Kingdom Hearts Naruto Style
by The Swordslinger
Summary: Will be re-written into a more original and better version, check last chapter for details
1. Chapter 1

**This Naruto fic will be based in Kingdom Hearts, an original idea from Tiger Lover 16. And since I loved his fic so much but he discontinued it I decided to make my own version, so there will be differences as well as a few similarities. I hope you guys like it.**

**And now here's the cast**

Sora- Uzumaki Naruto (obviously)

Kairi- Hyuuga Hinata

Riku- Uchiha Satsuki (Female Sasuke)

Donald- Silver the Hedgehog

Goofy- Luigi Mario

Mickey- Mario Mario

Leon- Uchiha Itachi

Yuffie- Tenten

Aerith- Kushina (Not related by blood)

Cloud- Hyuuga Neji

Sephiroth- Hyuuga Hanabi (Just kidding XD) an OC of mine

Cid- Omega E-123

Jiminy Cricket - Toadsworth

Chip and Dale- Goombario and Goombella

Minnie- Princess Peach

Daisy- Princess Daisy and Blaze the Cat (If you wonder why it's because both are Luigi's and Silver's girlfriends respectively)

Merlin- Sarutobi

Ansem- Madara

Maleficent- Orochimaru

**Worlds (If you don't like my choices, then fuck off)**

Destiny Islands – Same

Traverse Town – Delfino Island

Wonderland – Shibuya-cho

Deep Jungle – Wumpa Island

Olympus Coliseum – Pokémon Stadium

Agrabah – Hyrule

Monstro – Laboon

Halloween Town – Death City

Extra World- Netherworld

Atlantis – Kagutsuchi

Neverland – Kattelox Island

100 Acres Wood – Mahora Academy

Hollow Bastion – Same

**Rude awakening**

A teenager boy about fourteen years old with a mop of spiky blonde hair and whisker birthmarks fell with his eyelids heavily closed, deep asleep. His clothes consisted on a pair of orange pants, a black T-shirt with a red Leaf emblem and a pair of blue shinobi sandals (Basically, Naruto without his eye-sore jumpsuit but looking like a young version of his father but manlier). He fell and fell for what seemed hours in this dream.

Or, was it a dream?

He didn't know, it was all too real. Thus he ended opening his eyes, landing safely in a circular crystal platform very well designed. Looking around himself at the endless darkness he felt slightly nervous as he had no idea of what had happened or where he was, only that this was scaring him to no end.

Mumbling to himself the boy rubbed the back of his head "Guess that's the last time I eat thirty rations of ramen before going to sleep"

That's when he heard the voice, a soft soothing voice calling him from the dark void.

_So much to do… so little time…_

"Who said that?" asked the shocked boy.

_Take your time, don't be afraid. _That really didn't make the kid feel any safe, but he had no choice but to listen. _The door is still shut. Now, step forward. Can you do it?_

Not being one to deny challenges the boy took a step forward with no fear on his eyes, decided to end this quickly so he could see his friends. But as he did he soon stopped dead on his tracks. In front of him three stone pedestals rose from the crystal ground, they were separated from each other and held a different weapon. The one in front of the boy held a sword, to his left was a shield and to his right a staff (To give you guys an idea of what they look, they're the same as the game, but with a fox's head silhouette instead of Mickey's).

_Power sleeps within you. If you give it form… It will give you strength. Choose well._

Deducing the voice was referring to the weapons the boy advanced towards the sword the kid didn't think twice before holding it in his hands, but that was before he heard the voice again.

_The power of the warrior_

_Invincible courage_

_A sword of terrible destruction_

_Is this the power you want?_

He knew well what that meant; power was good as well as courage, but destruction? Thinking wasn't necessary for the blonde; he quickly left the sword where it was. Leaving the sword as his last choice the boy went to the staff and heard the voice again.

_The power of the mystic_

_Inner strength_

_A staff of wonder and ruin_

_Is this the power you want?_

Thinking carefully he weighted the pros and cons, sure the staff had great power, but it could also be a destructive one. So he went for the shield.

_The power of the guardian_

_Kindness to aid friends_

_A shield to repel all_

_Is this the power you want?_

Now he had no doubt in his mind. Power to protect his loved people, the power to keep any danger away from them. This was definitely for him. And with a quick nod the shield instantly disappeared in a flash of silver light.

_Your path is set. Now what will you give up in exchange?_

"The sword" the boy said with not even a second's hesitation.

_You have chosen the power of the guardian, and given up the power of the warrior. Is this the form you choose?_

Nodding the boy said "Yeah" But soon wished he hadn't, because the moment he did so the pedestals sank back into the ground, which began to shatter. Falling again inside the endless darkness the boy struggled against everything around him, as if hitting the air would stop him from laying on the ground… laying on the ground? Looking around him the boy found himself in another crystal platform, but this time he felt something… new.

Acting on instinct the blonde raised his hand forward as if grasping something, and from his palm a flashing silver light appeared. When the light died down the boy found he was holding the shield he saw before. He knew he asked for it, but this weird weapon of choice made him question what he was doing. To calm himself he took a few swings of practice, using the shield more like a sword than anything, it turned out his new weapon was really light and found it as a perfect replacement for a sword.

Sighing the kid observed his shield "It may not be a sword, but it sure can be handled as one" He smirked and tried to advance, thinking the voice would talk again, and it did.

_You've gained the power to fight. But you must use that power to protect you and others from them._

"Who's them?" the boy asked suspiciously. He then saw a creature of darkness appear from the ground. It walked on four legs, had an antenna like part on its head, and had yellow eyes. It looked on with its eyes of evil at the boy, who nervously stepped back, memorized by what he was seeing.

"What on earth is that?"

Without thinking, the creature smacked the boy down onto the ground. Quickly getting to his feet, the boy quickly swung his shield at the creature, knocking it aside with a hard blow. The creature felt a piece of its body torn from the hit. The boy quickly charged at the creature and slid his shield under it, and pushed up, knocking it into the air, sending it halfway into the sky. As it fell, the boy smacked at it again, defeating it for good.

The boy wiped his forehead, sighing with relief "I knew those sparring lessons with Satsuki would pay off" Unknown to him, more of the strange shadows appeared behind him. They slowly crept on him, taking small steps so that the boy wouldn't hear them, eyeing their pray closely. He looked around to see if anymore were going to attack him, when he heard the voice call to him in panic.

_Look out!_

The boy quickly turned and saw more shadows running at him. Drawing his weapon, he charged for the creatures of darkness. He swatted at one, but it leaped over him, landing behind. It swatted at him, but the boy leaped over the attack and brought his shield down. He smashed the creature in the back, destroying it instantly, unaware of the other two. They both leaped into the air and rammed their heads into his back, knocking him down.

The boy quickly retaliated and hit both aside with his shield, sending them spinning across the room. While they were on the ground, the boy ran at them and smashed them both away, easily defeating the heartless again. He stood up and sighed with relief again, wiping the sweat off of his forehead. All of a sudden, he looked down to see a dark wave appearing on the ground. The boy felt as if a strong undertow was pulling him under an ocean. He tried to struggle his way out, but the force was too strong.

He used all of his muscles to try and pull himself free, but it was no use. He fell into the darkness, feeling like he was suffocating. He continued to move his body around in fear, trying to struggle his way out. Finally, he awoke from the darkness and hoped that this nightmare has ended, but he then noticed he was on yet another platform with a portrait of some hearts. It had a pinkish-reddish color to it.

"Oh, great!" he said with a groan. He then saw a door appear on the other side of the room. Deciding this was bound to be his next objective, he walked towards the door and attempted to open it by whatever means necessary, but there was no need, the door opened itself the moment he got near it. A flash of light was all the kid could see for a moment. When the light subsided, he was back to the most beautiful island he ever saw, his home.

The blonde let out a huge sigh of relief "Man, glad that's over" He said to himself.

The first thing he noticed was that he was by the docks, and he wasn't the only one there, his friends Moegi, Konohamaru and Lee were all there with him.

"Oh, hey guys, I just had the weirdest dream where-"

"What's most important to you?" Moegi asked, cutting across the boy.

Caught off guard by Moegi's odd question, he replied "My friends. Why do you ask?"

But Moegi didn't give him an answer; instead Konohamaru asked him "What are you most afraid of?"

He was again caught off guard, but still replied "Losing the people I care about I guess, but why are-?"

"What do you want out of life?" Lee asked

"To be see what no one has ever seen" he said, getting nervous "Now answer my question, why are you asking me so many questions?" the boy demanded. But alas, he never got his answer, for the very next second Moegi, Konohamaru and Lee all vanished from sight.

"Ok, this is starting to get creepy" Naruto said awkwardly. And then the voice called out again...

_You value your friends above all else_

_You are afraid of losing your loved ones_

_You want to see what no one has seen before_

_Your journey begins at dawn. As long as the sun is shining, your journey should be a pleasant one. Are you ready?"_

"Damn right I am! And when this is over I'm kicking your ass!" the kid finally snapped, getting irritated. But, if it was ignoring him or not hearing him, the voice spoke once more.

_The day you will open the door is both far off and very near_

"Can you please stop talking in riddles?"

After the voice had spoken there was another flash of light, once it cleared the kid was once again standing on a glass window, he wondered what could be wrong. He soon found his answer. The shadows that appeared from the ground were ready for another battle a moment later.

Snapping once more the kid summoned the shield again "That's it! First I'll kick your asses, and then I'll find that voice and give it the beating of its life!" He charged again, and in a matter of minutes all shadows were gone. He sighed, no more shadows appeared so it looked like it was finally over.

Wrong.

Next second a set of stairs appeared in front of the kid, who groaned and ran up them. Once he'd reached the top the blonde found himself on another crystal platform. The kid saw a light shining down ahead of him, he then stepped into the light and basked in it. He felt much more comfortable in light than darkness. But he would now find he wasn't even safe there as the voice suddenly whispered.

_The closer you get to the light, the greater your shadow becomes_

He looked down and found that his shadow had indeed grown, a lot.

_But don't be afraid_

The voice added, he didn't understand what it meant until his shadow suddenly rose out from the ground and continued to grow until it reached a tremendous height.

_And don't forget..._

The voice said as the shadow began to form into a horrifying monster. A gigantic monster completely black and with the physical condition of a body builder, yet all of its body was pitch black, it had two glowing yellow eyes, several tendrils as hair and what seemed like a scarf covering its face's lower half. But the truly horrifying part was that on its chest was an enormous hole in the shape of a heart. The kid backed away as carefully as he could, knowing he had little chance against such an enormous creature, but he found that the steps had vanished. There was nowhere to go; he was trapped on the platform with that shadow monster.

He looked up nervously at the giant and waited for the voice to continue. It didn't. As the giant shadow roared and prepared to attack the boy knew he had no choice but to fight it "Why me?" he whined. The shadow giant glared at the poor boy with its cold, soulless yellow eyes and clenched its fist, which began to radiate a dark purple aura. Then, the giant punched, not Naruto, but the ground in front of him.

"Ha, nice shot pal!" our hero said sarcastically, not realizing this was the giant's intention until a dark portal suddenly formed around the giants hand and a swarm of the smaller shadow creatures he'd been fighting appeared. The boy made short work of them with lightning strikes and began smashing at the giants hand with his shield. Seeing this, the giant hastily retracted its hand from the ground.

As the blonde planned his next move the shadow suddenly kneeled down and the heart shaped hole in its chest was suddenly filled by another dark portal. But it wasn't shadow creatures that emerged from this portal, but small purple orbs that shot directly at the smaller fighter. Noticing his shield was… well as shield, the kid pushed his weapon in front of himself, the orbs impacting on the unusual weapon, and with all his might the kid swung the shield, swatting the orbs aside with a few of them striking the giant.

The sudden impact left the giant in a daze; the boy took this opportunity to climb up the shadow's arm, climbing up on its shoulder and hit it in the eyes with his shield. The shield released a powerful burst of power in the boy's hand, and the strike in the giant shadow's eye was so powerful it snapped it out of its daze, causing it to roar in pain.

The blonde teen leaped from the giant's shoulder and landed safely on the floor. He faced the enraged giant again and attempted to attack the monstrous shadow again to finish it off. But unfortunately, when he tried to do this the shield suddenly vanished from his hands. Both out of shock and fear for his life the boy fell on his back, and through the worst luck he'd ever had, landed in a dark portal. The giant glared at him with a hint of a smile, clearly pleased with itself. He struggled to get up, but the darkness pulled him back down. And with that, the boy knew it was over. He was going to die.

The voice suddenly returned as he sank further into darkness.

_-But don't be afraid. You hold the mightiest weapon of all. So don't forget: You are the one... who will open the door_

This was the very last thing he heard before he disappeared into the darkness.


	2. Chapter 2

**I OWN NOTHING, like always, except for myself, yay!**

**Busting up on the beach**

"Yeow!" our hero yelped as he stood up. The sun shined brightly as the boy sat up, rubbing his head. He yawned and looked around, noticing he was on his island. The island had large palm trees, with a wooden looking shed, and a miniature waterfall in the back of the island. He heard the waves of the water lightly hit the sand. The seagulls flew over his head, squawking lightly. He noticed the sun was shining brightly in his eyes. He looked back down and rubbed his face, trying to fully wake up.

"This dream better be over or I'll have to shorten my fix of ramen before a nap." he yawned tiredly. He lied back and screamed upon seeing a pair of lavender eyes staring at him. He turned around to see the girl giggling at him "Hinata, do you always have to sneak up on me like that? Give me a break!"

Hinata, the girl, was a cute girl around the boy's age. She had dark azure hair in a duck like hairstyle and the most beautiful eyes the kid had ever seen, they were a pair of white pupil less eyes that gave him some sort of dazzling feeling when looking at them. She wore a beautiful long sleeved white kimono with a short, very short skirt and a big blue ribbon on the back of her waist holding it closed as well as black thigh high socks and a pair of white wooden sandals for ladies. All in all she looked like a japanese princess from some fairy tale, and the kimono didn't really leave much to one's imagination, the chest area would make men fight to the death.

"Oh, I just figured I'd find you sleeping here" she shyly answered with a cute giggle that the boy loved "So, dreaming again, Naruto-kun?"

"It wasn't a dream!" Naruto, our blonde hero, answered "This weird, huge black thing tried to swallow me, I couldn't move, I couldn't breathe, I couldn't- OW!" the boy proceeded to rub a sore spot on his head as the pain came back like a hand slapping his skull.

"Are you ok? Are you still half asleep?" the girl asked, concern and worry obvious in her voice.

Naruto tried to form an answer, but found none "I'm not so sure myself. It was this strange place. There was this weird voice and these strange creatures. It was so bizarre" He observed his childhood friend wander around him in the beach until she stopped near the water and stared at the ocean. That's when a question came to his mind "Hey Hinata, what was your home like? You know, the place where you grew up"

The azure haired girl sighed "I told you, Naruto-kun, I don't remember anything" but for him it seemed that there was a bit of uncertainty on her voice.

"You sure? Nothing at all?"

"Nothing"

A bit sad he asked "Do you ever want to get back?"

That's when her answer made him feel better "Well, I'm happy here. There's my friends, Satsuki-chan and you, Naruto-kun. But you know, I wouldn't mind going to see it for once"

"I would too!" Naruto suddenly shouted with a big goofy smile "Along with any other worlds that exist out there! I will be the first person in history to see them all! Believe it! (A/N: Sorry, couldn't resist, besides, it's Naruto)"

"So then what are we waiting for? Let's hurry up and finish the raft!" the girl said a bit nervous and shyly but still excited at the idea.

"Hey! Aren't you guys forgetting about me? Besides, the raft isn't even done yet guys" called a voice, the owner was a girl as beautiful as Hinata carrying a big log on her right shoulder, but while the pale eyed girl was sweet and shy, this girl was the exact opposite. Her hair was pitch black and reached her mid back; she also had two bangs in front of her two coal black eyes. She had a pair of white shorts, so short and tight that her figure busted to the point any man would kill for a peep, a blue baggy T-shirt with medium length sleeves and a fan like symbol on her back and black fingerless gloves and ninja sandals.

"Sorry, Satsuki" Naruto chuckled in apology "I guess we got too excited"

"You're goofing off, while I get stuck doing the dirty work" she joked about her childhood friend's lazy attitude and threw the log to Naruto who caught it, but fell down. The girls giggled at the boy's antics as he stood up, and both had to admit they did enjoy his company. The raven haired girl turned to her one and only gal pal "And you're just as lazy as he is, Hinata"

"Sorry, Satsuki-chan" the girl chuckled nervously, but soon smiled "Come on guys, we'll finish it together! How about a race?"

"Huh?" Naruto asked in surprise.

"What? Now?" Satsuki added.

"Ready...GO!"

Naruto and Satsuki glanced at each other for one second, and that's all they needed for their rivalry to kick in and soon all three teens ran through the beach, laughing out loud.

-**Destiny Islands**-

Later that day, Naruto stood in front of Hinata, who was patiently waiting for him, leaning in a wooden door that lead to the other side of the island.

"Glad you're here, Naruto-kun" the girl whispered with her shy voice, but her smile made her look incredibly cute, until he heard her next words "Since you haven't done much you're in charge of finding what we need to finish the raft" Seeing him ready to reply the girl turned serious but still managed to be as gentle as always "Sorry, Naruto-kun, but since Satsuki-chan and I have finished our part all that's left is yours"

His head hung low at the truth behind the statement "Can't help it when there's such soft sand here for a nap after a good fill of ramen" Nodding sympathetically the girl handed him a list and soon the blonde went in the search for the items. Since he knew that one of the logs was at the beach he grabbed it and deposited the piece of wood inside a small wooden hut. But as soon as he exited he found himself facing one of his most dreaded opponents, Rock Lee.

Lee was a martial arts enthusiast that always wore his green shorts and T-shirt, orange ankle warmers as well and a pair of blue ninja sandals. His most noticeable features were his big round bug like eyes, impossibly fuzzy eyebrows and bowl haircut. For Naruto the sight of his friend meant only one thing, to fight, and he was right on guessing.

The ever enthusiast boy in green stood straight before the blonde "Yosh, Naruto-kun! Let's fight and see the power of our flames of youth!"

Naruto was about to decline knowing very well that Satsuki would kill him if he didn't bring the items, but it had been a while since he had a fight and Lee here was more than willing to give him one. And besides, he could also see how to do a little trick he prepared for fighting said raven haired girl next time. Oh how wide was his grin "Bring it, Lee! I'll show you my youth!"

The blonde put a hand on one of his orange pants' pockets, and from it he pulled out a wooden katana (The ones with no guard from any kendo dojo). Naruto took a lazy stance with his legs wide open, his feet in an L position and the sword at his side on his right hand, the tip down (Tidus' stance, FFX). Lee responded by smiling with a shiny set of white teeth and took his usual stance.

Both boys charged and Lee was the first to attack as his faster speed let him swing his leg in a sweeping kick. Naruto had no choice but to jump over it, leaving himself exposed in midair for Lee's rocketing fist to the ribs. Taking a direct hit the young swordsman trainee had no choice but to be dragged through the sand before rolling on his back and stand up with one quick jump.

While the power and resistance of these two boys may surprise normal people, it didn't here since they were trained to be ninjas in the old ways. Each boy had their own sensei, Naruto had his old tutor Jiraiya, Satsuki was under the tutelage of Kakashi, Lee trained under the orders of Gai and Hinata was self-taught in her own personal style. But enough of that, now back to the fight.

Naruto spat a little blood that the strike put on his mouth and charged again. This time Lee came with a roundhouse kick, but the boy used his wooden sword to block it vertically, before sidestepping and slashing Lee's left side, sending the martial artist tumbling backwards. Lee countered with an elbow to Naruto's gut, making the blonde gasp while trying to hold his miso and pork ramen inside his stomach. Next came a kick to the boy's forehead along with a fist to his right cheek.

Naruto stepped back rather fine considering the damage he took and how big the bruises were on his body '_That'll leave a mark_' he thought bitterly, until he charged again. Lee punched the boy three times on his sore stomach, making Naruto almost puke his lunch, following with another sweeping kick. But this time Naruto was prepared, when the kick came and he jumped he instantly swipped the blade under his feet, making Lee retreat to avoid a direct hit to the face.

As Lee took back his stance Naruto was already at mid-charge with his sword down. In one quick motion he swung the wooden weapon through the sand, lifting a cloud of it that blinded Lee, the boy with a bowl haircut received a powerful strike to his chin from the sword's handle.

Lee tried to attack again, but found his knees failing him '_That's right_' he thought '_If you hit an opponent in the chin in the right point with the correct angle then you'll shake his skull and thus also his brain, leaving him… paralyzed_' the last word in his mind was one of dread when Naruto brought his sword up, before swinging it down on Lee's forehead and making the boy in green fall hard on his face against the sand.

Naruto sat beside Lee, pretty beat up after getting hits that could crack rocks "Damn Lee, this was a spar, not a fight to the death" he murmured to his now standing friend, who tried hardly to get up after the tremor his brains suffered "Well, Naruto-kun, you weren't bad at all" the blonde smirked "Same to you, now I'd better get out of here and look for what I need or Satsuki will kill my ass" and with that both waved goodbye and left.

Naruto had collected a few logs and was now climbing a series of ladders to a small room. The room used to be an old tree house that they would stay in when they wanted to sleepover on the island and watch the stars. They had not been used this place for years now. He walked over to the wall and pulled of the old white sheet that clung to it. "Never thought we'd have an use for this" he mumbled to himself, remembering when he and his friends discussed what would be their emblem, Satsuki insisted on using her fan symbol while Naruto wanted to use the leaf symbol from his T-shirt, in the end no one won so the cloth was still there.

He slid down the ladder and went to the docks to find any rope no one needed for their boats. But once he arrived he met Moegi, a girl with two orange ponytails that stood up and a pair of pink dots on each cheek. "Hey Naruto, what's up?" she greeted him.

"Just doing some errands, and you?"

"Nothing much. Just thinking about the legend of the Paopu fruit. They say when two people share the Paopu fruit, their hearts stay connected forever. Oh, and who'd you share one with, Hinata or Satsuki?" the girl teased.

It was no secret that the boy liked both the raven and azure haired girls. Every time he had a chance, he would sneak peeks at them, just to catch a small glimpse of their fabulous beauty, their soft silk like hair and their fabulous eyes, and he loved their eyes more than anything, the soft and tender lavender ones and the fierce and strong coal ones. They had always been together and he thought nothing would tear them apart "I uh...gotta go. Hinata's, ah, waiting" Naruto said before he zipped away at twice his normal pace, leaving a giggling Moegi behind.

As he finally arrived at the docks Naruto found another one of his friends/rivals, Konohamaru. The boy had dark brown spiky hair and eyes, a blue scarf around his neck and two wooden daggers in hand as he practiced the moves his uncle Azuma taught him. When the boy saw the blonde he instantly smiled "Boss, how you've been?"

"Pretty well to tell you the truth, so you're still practicing, huh?" the blonde replied.

"Yep, but I still can't compare myself with Satsuki-chan. Last time we went against her three to one, but she creamed Lee, Moegi and me without batting an eyelash" the little boy sighed in defeat.

Naruto smirked at him "Well, one of these days I'll beat her. I've been training very hard and I just managed a new technique yesterday"

Konohamaru's eyes practically glowed at that "Really? Well then I'll be cheering for ya, boss"

And with that Naruto took the rope besides the boy, but now that he was pretty much done he realized he still needed one more log, and he knew where to find it ''_It seems I'll test my new technique with Satsuki sooner than expected_'

He soon found his rival in the small island connected to the other via a wooden bridge. She sat in a tree, in the small round island, looking at the open ocean and the setting sun as if longing for something. And as he expected the last log as there beside the tree, but he could care less for the log.

"Hey, Satsuki!" the boy greeted her with a big smile.

"Hey, Naruto. Have you done your part yet?" the girl asked.

"All I need is the log and I'm done" he said.

"Why don't we battle for a while?" Satsuki asked as if reading her blonde friend's mind "I have nothing to do and sitting here is getting really boring"

"All right! I'm gonna win this time!" the boy puffed out his chest to make himself look tough.

"You're completely hopeless, you know that?" the girl chuckled as she jumped off the tree. Naruto drew his wooden sword as Satsuki picked up a similar looking sword off the ground and turned to face her opponent "Same rules as usual. Which means anything goes"

"Bring it!" Naruto exclaimed and, to Satsuki's surprise, put his hands in only one seal before shouting "Shadow Clone Technique!"

Suddenly the raven haired girl was surrounded by three Naruto's, each armed with the same weapon as the original. But instead of an illusion these clones were real, thus made the girl's smirk "Seems you didn't slack when your perverted sensei taught you"

One of the Naruto's smirked "Hell yeah, if I slacked that Ero-senin would just ignore all of my training" he said as him and the other clones circled around the girl.

Satsuki smirked "Well, it beats having to wait hours before starting to train"

Naruto chuckled a bit "Yeah. Now less talking, more fighting!"

And with that all three Naruto's charged at her, only to be thrown aside as clouds of smoke while the original fell hard on his back. The boy suddenly raised his weapon, blocking Satsuki's when she jumped and tried to smack him in the head. The boy quickly curled himself on his back a bit, until his feet were at the girl's stomach before he launched her flying with a powerful double kick.

The girl landed on her feet after recovering her balance midair, only to see three clones charge at her. Smirking the girl ran at the, quickly sidestepping when she got too close before slashing at them, eliminating the clones one by one until finding Naruto. Facing her blonde rival she quickly spun on her left heel and slammed her right one on his guts, making the boy and once again on the ground, but this time with Satsuki pinning him down, sitting on his chest, knees on his arms and with her sword on his neck to keep him from getting up.

With a smug look and a grin she chuckled "Well, guess it's obvious who won"

"Yeah, me"

Confused by that the girl watched as the boy poofed out of existence in a cloud of smoke '_A clone!_' she thought now in full alert.

Next thing she knew was that a knee flew at her gut, before causing her to go flying off the edge, but she grabbed onto it. Naruto instantly reached at her side and extended his hand to her.

"Are you ok?" he asked worried.

"Yeah, just gotta remember that trick next time we fight. Now, could you lower your hand a little more?" she asked extending her right hand to him.

"No problem!" Naruto smiled warmly. He extended his hand to Satsuki who grabbed on, and then pulled the blonde over herself and he landed in the water. Satsuki began laughing at Naruto who made an angry look at her "Very funny, Satsuki" he grumbled "Now, please stop laughing and help me up"

"Yeah, sorry about-" *Splash* the girl had no chance to end her sentence as the blonde took revenge and quickly pulled her to the water. Once both looked at each other completely wet from head to toes they did what they always did after a fight, laugh. Yeah, they laughed after being humiliated by one another, but they sure felt happy about having such a good fight and an equally good joke between each other.

Naruto chuckled "Man, that was a good match, and I finally got to use the Shadow Clones perfectly"

Satsuki giggled a bit "But you still can't beat me"

"One day I will, believe it!"

"Ok, ok, I'll take your word, hehehe"

"Ok, I better get going and give Hinata what she needs before going home" the blonde said after taking the log and walking to see his other friend.

"Yeah, about that, there's one thing you don't get" she said, and he knew it couldn't be good, and he was right "You'll stay here until you finish building the raft, alone" he was about to reply but was cut in by the solid truth "Hinata and I busted our asses off and all that's left is your part and only your part"

With a sigh the kid accepted his punishment "Ok, fine, guess that's what I deserve. Though a little help would be nice-" "Not in a million years" "Well, it was worth a shot"

And with that the young swordsman went to find Hinata, dreading the future carpentry he'd have to do, but the negative feeling soon died when he saw his shy friend "Naruto-kun, you're here" she giggled "I hope you've found everything"

"Yeah, sorry, it took so long. I had a few interruptions while we were searching" He explained "But I've got everything."

"You lost to Satsuki again, didn't you?" she asked with a giggle.

"Yeah" the boy chuckled "But I'll beat her one of these days, believe it!"

(An hour later)

"And done, finally" sighed a relieved blonde after his, while a little sloppy, good work.

"Oh, by the way Naruto-kun, this is for you" Hinata said handing him a bottle "It should make you feel better if you're hurt."

Naruto received a Hi-potion and pocketed it for later. For the rest of the day the kids played all sorts of different games and had lots of conversations. Later that night, Naruto and Hinata sat on a tree while Satsuki leaned against it.

"So, do you think Hinata's home is out there?" Naruto asked Satsuki.

"It could be" she replied "But we're not going to know by staying here"

"But, how far could a raft take us?" he asked again "Do you think it's even strong enough to make this journey?

"You're full of questions today" the girl giggled to the blonde.

"Well, I'm not sure, Naruto" Satsuki responded to Naruto's question "If it doesn't work, we'll think of something else. There are other possibilities, not just a raft"

"What would you do if you got to another world?" Hinata asked Satsuki with curiosity.

"Well, I don't really know" the ravenette responded unsure, scratching the back of her head "I thought about it, but I'm quite not sure. Maybe I'll look for my brother and help Naruto find his parents"

The blonde smiled at that, as he had always wanted to meet them like Satsuki did with her brother "Thanks"

The ravenette smiled "Not a problem, I've always wondered why we're on this island. If there are other worlds, why were we born on this one? Let's just say there are other worlds, and that would mean that our world is a little part of something even greater. We would have easily ended up somewhere else, right?"

"I don't know" Naruto said laying on a branch with no idea of what the girl was talking about.

"Exactly. That's why we need to go out there and find out" she explained "If we stay here, we'll never know about what was out there. It's just been the same old thing on this island, day by day. So let's go."

"You've been thinking about this a lot lately" Hinata commented to her gal pal.

"Naruto and I owe it to you" Satsuki said turning to Hinata.

"Me?"

"When you came to our island I realized that you weren't from this world" she explained "That's when I knew that there were other places out there. If it wasn't for you, I would never have thought of the idea. Thanks, Hinata"

"You're welcome" Hinata smiled shyly at being the reason of something so deep.

"Let's head home, girls. I'm beat and Ero-senin will make my favorite ramen for tonight" Naruto said jumping off the branch.

"You and your ramen-only-stomach, but I guess you're right, it's getting dark" Satsuki replied as she looked at the setting sun.

"Yeah, it's getting pretty late" Hinata added.

She ran ahead of the two and headed towards her boat. Naruto began walking when Satsuki called to him "Naruto"

"What's up?" he asked.

"Catch!" the girl called, throwing a star at him. The whiskered boy caught it and looked at it "I noticed you wanted one, right?"

"A Paopu fruit?" he asked in surprise

"Legend has it that if two people share it they'll be a part of each other's lives forever" she explained, then smiled "I know what you're thinking, give it a shot with me and Hinata"

"Huh?" questioned Naruto with a blush "What are you talking about?

The ravenette laughed and headed towards her boat. The kid threw the fruit away and headed towards his boat. The three friends said good-bye and headed off for home. But Naruto couldn't take those words out of his head, and when perverted thoughts arose he had to bang his head against the boat while saying "Don't be like Ero-senin" over and over again.

XXXXXX

The scene changes to a small town with a giant castle. The town was very colorful and full of mushroom like creatures. The town had a garden, tons of shops, and a postoffice. The castle in the back was guarded by a giant blue gate with a yellow star printed on it.

Inside the castle, a grey humanoid hedgehog about three feet and a half tall walked along the corridors. The hedgehog had two arching spines with five quills sticking out of his forehead with two longer quills sticking out of his back and white fur mane that reached from his chest, all around his neck and to his back. He wore white gloves with cyan circles on them to help with his powers and golden bracelets. He also had black, white, and teal boots with golden bands at the top of them.

His name was Silver the Hedgehog and right now he was working as an ambassador for his princess and girlfriend, Blaze the Cat. He was supposed to meet the man by the name of Mario, a hero of the Mushroom Kingdom and the one who had called for him to discuss a certain matter that concerned both this kingdom and Blaze's. He felt kind of important for that, but he was extremely happy because he was helping the girl he loved besides using his psychic powers against a power hungry man's evil plots.

When he reached the door to the meeting room he entered with a puffed chest to try to look as dignified as he could "Good morning, Mr. Mario" The hedgehog greeted "It is such a good...what in the world?" he screamed as he noticed he was in a deserted room.

Instead of seeing the great hero waiting for him he found a green dinosaur like creature with a very big nose, it was green with his front part white from his neck to the back of his tail. Also on his back was a red saddle and he wore red shoes and he had oval vertical eyes. It was Mario's pet and friend Yoshi, holding a letter with a mushroom drawn on it, the Mushroom Kingdom's symbol. His eyes wandered over the letter, concentrating on what the man may have left him and why would he use the small Chao to deliver this message. He checked it not once, not twice, but three times. After finishing the letter, he stood there, unblinkingly, before running out of the room screaming.

"Luigi!" Silver shouted as he tried to find the man, until he arrived at the gardens.

Silver found a man about four feet and two inches tall and a little chubby with a black curly moustache below a big round nose, brown hair with long sideburns and white gloves. The man wore blue overalls, a green shirt underneath it, brown work shoes and a green hat with a green letter "L" on it. The man was sleeping peacefully in the garden with his green hat covering his eyes from any light while he enjoyed his nap under the shade of a tree.

"Luigi, wake up! This is serious!" the grey hedgehog shouted, but the man remained asleep after a hard day's work of plumbing. Angered by the man's laziness, the psychic mobian lifted a random bucket of water with his mind and dumped its contents over the man's head.

"Whoa, that's cold" The man known as Luigi said with an Italian accent a bit dazed by the surprise. He stood up and dried his clothes, starting with his loved green hat, as he turned he noticed the mobian standing right next to him. "Oh, hey Silver. Good morning."

"No time for that, Luigi. We got a problem!" Silver told the man "But don't tell anyone"

"What about Princess Peach?" Luigi asked.

"Not even the queen!"

"Then how about Daisy and Blaze?"

"No! It's top secret! So don't tell anyone!" Silver snapped.

"Ok, but I think you should tell them that. Good morning, ladies" Luigi waved.

"Oh no" Silver whispered as he turned around. To his unfortunately to his surprise, he found that it was the two princesses and his girlfriend that were standing behind him.

Princess Peach was a young woman with blonde hair that fell down her back with blue eyes, a royal pink dress, white gloves that covered her whole arms and a small golden crown. Princess Daisy, who was Luigi's girlfriend, was like a copy of Peach, but her hair was brown, her eyes green and her dress yellow. His girlfriend, Blaze, was a lavender cat with four tendrils of hair being banded together by a red ring and a red jewel embedded in her forehead. She wore a violet coat with a golden collar, white form-fitting trousers, white gloves with fur-lined cuffs, and a pair of magenta and white shoes with fur-lined collars.

"Silver, is there anything you would like to tell us?" Blaze asked her boyfriend sternly.

"Well… you see… I'm in trouble, aren't I?" the poor mobian sighed in defeat.


	3. Chapter 3

**I OWN NOTHING, except a big love for pizza and a mean kick that breaks bricks, just kidding with the last… although it does some damage**

Big black… thingy

Another day in the island and Naruto was grumbling his misfortune "Man, Satsuki and Hinata are going to kill me… scratch that, Hinata would see it in her heart to forgive me, Satsuki is the one that will kill my ass" The reason behind all of this dread was that he was in the wrong side of the island, instead of being in the other side of the wooden door Hinata was leaning yesterday he ended up in the same area he was that same day.

The blonde whiskered boy began running across the island. He knew Satsuki and Hinata were waiting for him, one of them trying to sooth the one ready to kill him. Then, from out of nowhere, something came and grabbed his neck in a very tight hold along with a green sleeve. The boy gasped for air as his bowl haircut friend greeted him.

"Hey Naruto-kun! What's up?" said Lee, oblivious of the choking pressure his arm had on the boy.

"Lee… you're… choking me…! Stop…!" Naruto gasped with all the strength he had left.

"Oh sorry, Naruto-kun, I was having too much fun" Lee apologized as he let go of the now panting orange pants wearing kid "What's the hurry?"

"I have to go see Satsuki and Hinata, so I can't battle right now!" Naruto panicked.

"Actually, I was hoping later you could join me and Konohamaru-kun for a little exploring" Lee said.

"Where are you going?" the blonde wondered.

"We're going to the secret place today. We're a bit curious about what's there. There's got to be something there?" Lee responded.

"Sure, I'll join you, but right now I have to find the girls before Hinata can't control Satsuki's rage any longer"

"See you later" said Lee, saying farewell.

After a good running the boy finally made it. He opened the door so he could reach the other side where he was supposed to meet his friends. This side of the island was completely different from the other. The whole area was full of wooden platforms, had a tall tower with a zip line, a miniature forest of palm trees, a strange star-shaped tree on the other side and in front of him… was a very pissed off ravenette with a cute lavender eyed girl by her side.

"Naruto!" Satsuki yelled, just as he expected "How can you be so lazy, I don't know. What I do know is that we were supposed to meet here half an hour ago" she practically yelled as a mother scolding her son, or more like a wife scolding her husband.

Seeing her so ticked off he tried his best with a huge sheepish smile "Well… I made it, didn't I?"

Face palming the girl muttered "Just… just forget it, if I keep discussing about this you'll turn into a mini-Kakashi"

"Hey, could be worse, I could be another mini-Gai… Ok, let's forget I just said that" The boy said first with a smile, then with a shudder. The girls nodded in agreement and with another shudder of theirs, just one Gai was enough, Lee was pushing it too far, but three? That gave the three of them nightmares about a sunset with waves and loud cries of youth.

Satsuki regained her composure and looked at the boy "Hey, since the raft is finished we should name it" Naruto looked at her and put his hand on his chin, his mind deep in thought, then he nodded "Well, since you agree, I vote we name it the 'Omega Sharingan'"

But Naruto didn't like it, and voiced it "Oh come on, why name it like that eye-trick of yours?" He then put his hands on his hips and used his biggest goofy smile "I say we name it the 'Maelstrom'"

"Well, while I'm impressed you didn't theme it with ramen I'd say it was fine, but I still say it's the Omega Sharingan"

"Maelstrom!"

"Omega Sharingan!"

"Maelstrom!"

"Wait! We're getting nowhere fast!" Satsuki said, stopping the argument "You want to do the usual way to settle this?"

"Okay, you're on!" shouted the blonde with determination.

Hinata then walked over. She rolled her eyes, knowing the two were being competitive again "Are you two at it again?" asked with a tired sigh.

"Yes!" the two said together.

"Okay, I'll judge!" Hinata announced "You can take any route you want. Make it to the star and back. First one back and to tag my hand wins"

"How about a little bet, Naruto?" Satsuki smiled deviously.

"All right, if I win, I'm captain" the boy placed his bet "And if you win..."

"I get to share a Paopu fruit with you" Satsuki interrupted.

"Wha..." The blonde asked in a shocked manner.

"Deal? Winner not only will be the captain but also gets to share a Paopu with whoever they want. I win and I share one with you, you win and you get to choose between me and Hinata"

"Wait, hold on!"

"Ok, get ready!" Hinata called, interrupting Naruto. The girl raised her arm as a signal and the two racers moved into running positions "On your mark, get set, go!"

Both kids took off so fast; Hinata barely had enough time to jump out of the way. The raven haired girl took an early lead as they jumped across the platforms. Because she was more adapted to running around the environment her lead only increased. Figuring he couldn't win on speed alone, Naruto quickly came up with an idea and started to climb the tower. Once to the top, he took off down the zip line and touched the star tree before jumping across the trees.

"Not bad," the girl commented "but it will take more than that to beat me" Naruto jumped back near the tower, assured of his victory, when Satsuki came out of nowhere and jumped off of his head.

"No way!" he shouted in disbelief "How did she catch up to me so fast?"

"Give up, loser. You know you can't win" the ravenette stated with a smug grin.

"We'll just see about that!" Naruto shouted as he jumped back to his feet and chased after his friend.

The two rivals ran across the platform, never showing any signs of giving up. Then shoved each other back and forth and with each jump they came closer to their goal. Not far was Hinata holding her hands out for them to tag. Remembering the bet, Naruto pulled out every bit of strength he had and shouted his newest technique "Shadow Clone Technique"

Satsuki slowed down a bit to see three Naruto's out of the cloud of smoke, two of them swinging the third around wildly, before the original Naruto was launched at high speeds towards his lavender eyed friend and tagged Hinata, one second ahead of Satsuki. Naruto skidded to a stop, his clones already dispersed themselves, he grasped his knees and panted hard and ragged when Hinata raised his arm.

"And the winner is Naruto-kun!" Hinata cheered with a very happy smile with a tint of pink in her cheeks for the contact with her beloved friend.

And that's when realization finally hit him '_Oh no, now I must choose… but which one? Damn, I like both Hinata and Satsuki the same… but in that way? Argh, damn it Satsuki!_' He turned to see both girls, still trying not to kill himself while trying to decide, only to find them… giggling?

Satsuki was the first to burst out, followed closely by Hinata "Oh man, Naruto! You sure fell for it!" she said in between laughs, further confusing the blonde.

Hinata, having a better control of her giggling fit, explained what happened "Sorry, Naruto-kun. Satsuki-chan and I were really bored after finishing our parts sooner than expected, and she decided to play a joke with you. That you were to choose which of us to give a Paopu fruit"

The boy's jaw dropped at the ground faster than lightning "…Wait…so… YOU TRICKED ME!" this only caused both girls to laugh even more at the cherry red face their naïve friend had along with the outburst.

Satsuki was the first to calm down this time "Sorry, Naruto. But at least you got to name the raft, and we have a good compensation prize" his mood immediately brightened up as he heard the word 'prize', but just as he was about to ask what it was he received his answer. The two girls took one step near him, leaned forwards and pressed their lips against his whiskered cheeks, giving him the warmest of feelings when those two girls he loved the most kissed him affectionately. He felt so good that if he died there and then he'd die a happy man.

As his two friends stepped back and separated their lips from his face all three had different tints of red on their cheeks. Naruto was red as a boiled lobster, Hinata looked like a ripe cherry and Satsuki had a deep pink on her face. It was a very awkward moment until Naruto rubbed the back of his head and muttered a "Thanks you" while the three friends tried to avoid eye contact.

XXXXXX

After the awkward moment Naruto followed Hinata to the raft, the small raft had a small wooden floor, one log that pointed up and a sail. The boy surely was impressed with the craftsmanship it had.

"Wow!" he said in awe "Satsuki sure did and awesome job on the raft!"

"She sure did" Hinata responded with a warm smile, observing the finished raft, but also a certain boy through the corner of her eyes "She and I really loved to make wooden pots for the flower pressing classes we had, you could say we were kind of skilled at it" The girl then turned back to him "Now, we need a few supplies for the boat"

"What am I, your errand boy?" he asked, defeat obvious in her voice as he knew he wouldn't escape this task.

"Because you do a good job at it, and that you're such a great help for both me and Satsuki-chan" the lavender eyed giggled with a small tinge of pink on her cheeks. Naruto grumbled and put his hands in his pockets, thinking about what she said, then smiled and started to chuckle a bit along with his cute friend. Once finished laughing he took the list and ran to leave when Hinata stopped him "Naruto-kun! Take this bottle and fill it up at a clean spring" Hinata called, throwing a travel bottle to him.

He caught the bottle and left. In his small quest Naruto found a mushroom hidden behind a rock near the raft and he pushed the rock in order to get it. He made another pile like before and put the mushroom on it. He found another mushroom in a bush and added it to the pile. He walked over to some palm trees and saw some coconuts in them. He shook the trees, causing coconuts to fall. He grabbed three of them and added them to the pile. The boy headed back to the other side of the island and did some fishing for awhile.

But that's when the easy part ended.

He went through a small mud pile and grabbed a few worms. Naruto sat on the dock for a little while until, after catching thirteen old, wet boots he gave up and launched himself at the fishes, swimming like a possessed shark to catch them. He ended up catching some, even if the poor fishes were scared out of their minds, and added them to the pile as well. The blonde remembered early today he saw a seagull egg on a pine tree by the bridge. After looking around he finally found the egg, only to fight some of the birds that pecked fiercely against his skull before he could add it to his pile.

"I think there was a mushroom in the secret place" the boy pondered to himself as he brushed off the feathers from his hair and clothes.

He headed over to the secret place near by the waterfalls and crawled through the hole. He arrived at a dark cave. In it were scribbled drawings on the wall. Many pictures that the kids drew were on the wall. One of the most interesting things in there was a brown door with no knob. The whiskered boy had many questions about the door, but never knew its purpose for being there.

He then noticed a mushroom and grabbed it. Before leaving, Naruto noticed one drawing with a scribble of himself and the girls. He then remembered how when he and them were little and drew those pictures of each other, the girls worked together on his drawing while he said he could do theirs better than them his, in the end he gave them all his instant ramen after Satsuki tricked him into a bet.

He cursed his bad abilities as an artist for that, but smiled a bit at the memory of Hinata laughing at his shocked face and how cute she looked. He saw a piece of chalk and grabbed it; the boy drew two stars that moved towards the Hinata and Satsuki drawings. He remembered what Moegi said about the Paopu fruit, and the reason he wanted one was to give it to them… though he still had trouble when it came to the confession of his feelings.

All of a sudden he heard footsteps and quickly stood up and turned around. He noticed a mysterious person wearing a brown cloak looking at him. He felt nervous upon seeing him. He's never seen this person in his life. He's known everybody on his island, but never this cloaked person with a brown hood.

Naruto, trying to get rid of his fear, asked "Who are you?"

"Forgive me for intruding on you" the man said in a low voice and mysterious voice "But, I'm here to see the door to this world."

"Huh?"

"Now, this world has become connected" The man said.

"What are you talking about?" Naruto asked way too confused.

"Tied to the darkness, soon to be completely eclipsed"

"Stop freaking me out like this!" Naruto shouted, angry at the man ignoring him while rambling about crazy stuff "Where did you come from? I've never seen you here before"

"I'm afraid you do not know what lies beyond the door" the man simply stated as if talking about the weather.

"Are you from another world?" Naruto asked.

"There is so very much to learn, but you understand little" the man continued.

"Was that an insult?" the kid asked annoyed, a fist raised ready to pound the unknown man "Whoever you are, you can't stop me! I'm going to go out there and see what's out there!"

"A meaningless effort, one who knows nothing can understand nothing" the man said quietly "You know there are many answers and you will discover them, but you will not know everything. What about that door? What do you think is behind it?"

"Well, I'm not sure" the blonde said unsure. He turned to look at the door, but when he turned back the man was gone "Where did he go? …Man, I better not be seeing things because of ramen, I don't want to shorten my rations of sweet nectar of life"

"Actually, that'd be good for you, loser" Satsuki said as she stepped into the cave "So what are you doing- Hey! What do you think you're doing? Stop pushing me!" the ravenette growled as the blonde kept on pushing her out of the cave, way too embarrassed to let her see what was behind him

"Sorry Satsuki! But this is man's stuff" he lied, knowing that would give him one hell of a beating but would allow his embarrassment to be hidden.

"Sexist!" the girls shouted when the blonde finally got her out of the cave. Taking a deep breath she looked at him once again "I was going to tell you to hurry up, but if you don't want me to enter the secret place then that's fine, see if I care"

"I'm… I'm sorry" the boy finally said, and seeing him really meaning it caused the girl to soften "Look, it's just that I can't let you see something… it's kind of personal…" he said scratching the back of his head for the lack of better words.

Sighing the girl muttered "Fine, I don't care, but if you ever think you can push me like that you soon will feel pain!" she ended that statement by pulling her wooden sword, aiming the tip at the now terrified blonde, who could only ask "But what did I do?" The girl's face took at least ten shades of red as she answered "You… you touched my breasts!" she shouted undignified at him.

"Waah! I'm sorry, I really am!" he shouted, running away from the furious coal eyed girl.

Once at a safe distance he remembered the mushroom in his hand, he instantly remembered Hinata and ran towards the raft. Naruto ran back to the other side of the island, on his way he saw the small waterfall and filled the bottle the Hinata gave him before he returned to the raft and found the blue haired girl leaning against the mast of the raft, making something in her hands.

"Hey, Hinata, what are you doing?" the boy asked out of curiosity.

"Oh, you mean this?" she asked in a bit of surprise at seeing him right now so suddenly while she was so concentrated in the item between her fingers, she then held up the item to show to him "I'm making a necklace out of thalassa shells. They say that if people wore them out at sea, it would bring them good luck on their voyage"

"Hey, good idea, that way we'll have nothing to worry about in the journey" Naruto said, then took a look at the sky "The sun's going down. Guess we better get going"

"Maybe" the girl agreed.

Later, the two friends sat at the docks at the sun began to set across the horizon. The boy thought the sun's reflection off the water made Hinata look even more beautiful than before as the beautiful reflection of the light gave her the looks of a goddess, he then wondered how both Hinata and Satsuki would look together in the same scenario. Then he mentally slapped himself when Jiraiya and his perverted influence started to enter his mind.

"Hey, Naruto, have you noticed how Satsuki has changed?" the girl asked out of the blue.

"What do you mean?" he returned. He noticed that he usually happy attitude showed a hint of depression "Hey, are you alright?"

"Naruto, let's take the raft a go, just the two of us" Hinata said suddenly.

"What?" Naruto shouted surprised and flustered.

"Just kidding" the blue haired giggled "I just felt like doing something Satsuki-like, sorry"

"You don't have to be, it's alright, but I like both you and Satsuki-chan more the way you are" he said, then shot his head to another side in order to avoid her from seeing his blush, which impeded him from seeing hers "You're the one who's changed, Hinata"

"Maybe…" she whispered, now with her usual tint of pink on her face "You know, I was a little afraid at first, but now I'm ready. No matter where I go or what I see, I know I can always come back here, right?"

"Yeah, and I'll never let neither you nor any of my friends get hurt, believe it!" he shouted with a fist pumped in the air.

"That's good" the girl smiled "Naruto-kun, don't ever change"

"Huh?"

"I just can't wait. Once we set sail, it'll be great" the girl said with an excited smile.

The two remained in silence for the rest of the time, enjoying the last moments they had on the island. They couldn't wait to set sail. For tomorrow, they would take their first step to their journey to the new worlds that lie out there.

But if only they knew what awaited for them.

XXXXXX

Back at Peach's Castle; Silver, Blaze, Luigi, Daisy, and Peach were all seated in the living area. The room was huge with a giant library, pictures of the mushroom people, and a fireplace at the corner. Peach was eagerly waiting for the grey hedgehog to read the letter.

"Silver, are you going to read the letter?" Peach asked impatiently but politely, worried about the missing hero.

"Ok" Silver said holding up the letter. Clearing his throat, he read the letter.

_Dear, Silver._

_Sorry I rushed off in hurry without saying good-bye, but something terrible has happened, so I had to leave. For some strange reason stars have been going out across many of our worlds. I believe that these stars are the worlds we live in, so I had to leave to investigate. Our worlds are in danger as well, but do not fret because there is a solution. Soon a very special person with a key will show up and that key is the key to our survival. I need you and my little bro to find him and stay with him. Understand? Unless we don't have that key, we're doomed. I need you to get Peach out of Toad Town and go to an island called Isle Delfino. I originally planned a vacation there for me and her, but when this tragedy struck, I had to cancel the trip. I already took care of the tickets, and the Toad Express should take you over there. When you get to Isle Delfino I need you and to find a man named Itachi. He'll help you find the key. Luigi will be most useful if you are to find any ghosts and another problem you may find, so I left a package for him in the island._

_Good Luck. Love, Mario._

_P.S. Tell Peach I'm sorry. Thanks fella._

"Oh my! What should we do?" Daisy said in a worried tone.

"We must have faith in Mario" Peach said folding her hands "For years he and Luigi have defended are kingdom from the evil Koopa tribe and I trust what he's doing"

"Well, I'm worried about my little older brother, too" the plumber agreed sadly.

"Don't worry, Princess" Silver smiled, assuring everyone "I assure you, Mr. Mario and this key will be found"

"Yeah, I'll help too!" the man in green said happily.

"Thank you, both of you" Peach said with a smile.

"I heard about Isle Delfino" Luigi said crossing his arms "It's the only world that is right near by the Mushroom Kingdom"

"What? I thought it was part of the Mushroom Kingdom" Silver said.

"Sort of" Peach said "Isle Delfino is so close that we exchanged goods with it, but people have to fly down there considering it's a different world"

"Hey, I'll hold down the fort till you three get back, Blaze will also be here to give me a hand" Daisy announced and Blaze nodded in agreement.

"But what if something bad happens to you, Daisy?" Luigi asked worryingly. Luigi took Daisy's hands. He didn't want to lose one of those most important people he loved, considering the fact that she was his girlfriend. Silver also felt the same about Blaze, since this incident meant a lot of problem and that he'd be away from her.

"Don't worry, you two" Blaze said comfortingly, knowing what those two were thinking "Even if something happens to us, we'll always think of you"

The two guys blushed and Peach walked over to Luigi.

"I almost forgot. Toadsworth shall be joining us, chronicling our travels" Peach said. An old mushroom person entered with a walking stick. He wore a vest with a purple button down shirt. He had a giant white moustache and the dots on his mushroom head were brown. He also has reading glasses on. This was apparently Toadsworth.

"Ah, master Luigi and master Silver" He said, greeting the two heroes "I shall be keeping entries in my journal on your many adventures. Not only that, but I'm also joining you to keep an eye out for the princess. After all, I am very loyal to her."

"Thank you, Toadsworth" Peach said with a smile.

"Good luck guys!" Daisy called as they began to leave.

"Good luck!" Luigi called with a thumb up.

Silver rolled his eyes and used his psychic powers to lift the small plumber high in the air "You're coming, too!" The four left the castle and headed towards the Toad Express, all the while Luigi was begging the grey hedgehog to put him back to the ground.

"Kid, we need to talk for a second" Luigi said, finally getting an idea about how to walk back on his own two feet.

"What is it?" Silver asked.

"If you let me down I might tell you" Luigi said groaning, but Silver released him from the psychic hold "Thanks, now here's the deal; while we're in other worlds we can't lead onto where we're from or meddle in the affairs of them"

"Why?" the mobian asked.

"Because if we do, big trouble will happen and everything would get messed up" Luigi responded "So, I suggest keeping it quite"

"Oh, I see" Silver understood. "So both you and I got to protect the world order"

"Well, yeah, but I still don't like that rule very much because… you're not listening to me, are you?" Luigi sighed when he noticed Silver walking up ahead of him and the two of them headed over to the Toad Town airport. There was a giant airplane waiting for them upon arrival.

"Master Luigi and Silver, glad you could make it" Toadsworth said running up to them "We have all of your things packed, including the Poltergust 3000 and FLUDD"

"Why did you go through both my brother's and my things without asking? I mean, I know they're both useful to get rid of any kind of pests, but still" Luigi asked upset.

"Sorry, Luigi, we're in a bit of a rush" Peach said "We need to get there by tomorrow morning so we can check into the hotel"

"Okay, then let's-a-go!" Luigi announced. Silver, Luigi, Peach, and Toadsworth walked up the stairs and boarded the plane. The four of them sat in big red seats. Luigi pressed a button and a small yellow hole appeared in the wall. Luigi grabbed it and called into it "This is Luigi here" Luigi called into the hole "Luigi Mario to launch crew! Come in launch crew!"

In the control tower were two mushroom-like creatures. They had small feet, but no hands. One was a female pink one with a mine helmet on, a small tie on her chest, and a long strip of blonde hair. The second one was brown and had a blue hat on its head. The pink mushroom walked over to a microphone and leaned her mouth towards it.

"This is Goombella here" she responded "Are you ready for takeoff?"

"Yes!" Silver responded "Anytime you're ready"

Goombella then turned to the other mushroom creature. She felt disappointed upon seeing he was asleep, a comic book about Mario over his asleep face.

"Goombario, wake up!" she shouted "Wake up! We need to get ready for launch!"

The poor mushroom got startled and quickly jolted over to the other side of the room. He jumped onto the table and pressed a button with his foot. Meanwhile, Luigi sat back in his seat waiting for the take off. The pilot of the plane got a radio call from Goombella giving the okay to go. Silver and Luigi looked out the window and waved to Blaze and Daisy respectively, who waved back. The Toad Express turned to the run way and the engine fired up.

"Hang on everyone! We're taking off!" Toadsworth announced with enthusiasm. The ship took off the runway and started to take speed.

Only for the plane to fall through a hole in the ground.

"Who the hell came up with this idea?" Silver screamed as both him and Luigi tried to get a hold of their seats while Toadsworth and Peach were smart enough to fasten their safety belts. Once the plane exited the hole it started to fly towards the new world, with Silver and Luigi badly bruised by the sudden stop.

Peach giggled at their antics "Next time do fasten your seatbelts, there's a reason why the plane's crew always says that"

The hedgehog and the plumber groaned in agreement while the former said only one thing "Next time I'd like to be informed about how the plane is supposed to fly"

XXXXXX

Back at Destiny Island, Naruto lied on his bed in his bedroom, holding the Paopu fruit.

"Should I really give it to Hinata, or to Satsuki?" he said to himself "Is this what I really want to do?"

His room was small with a drawer and a closet. Sora looked up to see a giant toy sailboat he had, in it there were three dolls of him and the two girls. He began to hear Hinata's voice inside of his mind "I just can't wait. Once we set sail, it will be great" Naruto then looked out his window and saw the storm on Destiny Island.

"A storm?" he said baffled and then realized something to his horror. "Oh no! The raft will be smashed to pieces!" the blonde changed into his day clothes and jumped out the window as he heard his tutor calling him for dinner. The boy decided to worry about the raft first.

"Naruto? Dinner's ready. Come on down" Naruto's tutor and caretaker, Jiraiya the Toad Sage, called, but received no response "Naruto?" as the white haired man entered the empty room he only had one thought '_So, it has begun, I only hope your son can do it, Minato_'

Naruto got on his little boat and rowed his way to the island rowing as fast as he could. Upon arrival at the dock, he saw a giant black ball. "What on earth is that?" He then noticed the two boats "The girls are here!" he then tried calling for them but there was no response, until he heard a noise and looked over his shoulder. Forming from the shadows were the dark creatures he encountered in his dream "Aw man, I've already had enough of them asleep, now I have to fight them awake?" the kid drew his wooden sword and charged forward.

One of the shadow creatures made a jump at him, but Naruto quickly ducked down and kicked the creature from behind. While the creature was still down, Naruto whipped up his sword and brought it down on the creature. But it had no effect.

"Oh, come on, that's not fair, in a fight everyone's supposed to get hit" he whined, his attention returned to the creature as it suddenly split in half and multiplied "Ok, wasn't expecting that. Only one thing to do in a time like this: RUN!" Naruto ran across the beach and suddenly jumped over the roof of the shack. From the corner of his eyes Naruto found Satsuki standing at the miniature island and ran across the bridge to reach her "Satsuki? Satsuki, what's going on? Where's Hinata?"

"The door is open" the girl mumbled suddenly.

"Huh?" the questioned.

"The door is open, Naruto" she emphasized as she turned to the whiskered boy "Now we can go to the outside world! All of our dreams and ambitions will soon become a reality! You'll find your family and I'll finally meet my brother again!"

"What are you talking about? We have to find Hinata" Naruto said.

"She's coming with us!" the ravenette suddenly snapped, scaring his friend for the first time in his life at that. He knew she could get angry, but never before had he seen her like this, almost as if those words were stealing something from her. She was usually the cool and calm one, but now... "Once we step through to the other side, there will be no turning back. We will never see our friends again. Of course, we all have nothing to lose. Both my parents are dead and you and Hinata...you never had a family to begin with"

The raven haired girl struck an open wound on that comment. It was true. Her parents both died a long time ago and no one knew why. Hinata came to this world with no memory or family. And Naruto...he was only a week old when Jiraiya found him flouting on a small boat. It was like he came from out of nowhere. He never even had a chance to know who his parents were. And that's the true reason he wants to escape this world, so he could find them.

"We may never see our friends again, but that's the kind of risk I am willing to take for my dream. We can't let our fear stop us. I'm not afraid of the darkness!" Satsuki yelled. She extended her arm to her beloved friend "Embrace the darkness and let us find our destiny within it" This time her voice was more of a plea than anything else, as if her life depended on him saying yes.

The blonde was greatly tempted to accept her offer. As he stretched his hand out he received a mental image of what would happen to Hinata if he wasn't here, the thought of Hinata being left behind, alone… crying… that tore his heart apart.

"I'm sorry, Satsuki. But I can't walk the same path you do" he said, feeling tore between choosing who to be with.

Satsuki seemed more than disappointed at her friend's choice, and Naruto could swear he saw a small tear on her eye.

For no apparent reason, a hole of darkness appeared beneath the girl's feet. Black vines erupted from the hole as it slowly entangled her body. Naruto reacted quickly, trying to save his childhood friend from the web of darkness, but soon found himself caught as well. He struggled with all his might, but proved to be in vain, yet that didn't stop him because seeing Satsuki in danger was just as bad as leaving Hinata alone.

And then, everything went black. It was just like his dream. He was dying once again. Just as all hope seemed lost, a bright light erupted from the darkness. Naruto opened his to find that the darkness was gone, but so was Satsuki. He suddenly felt heavier in his right arm and looked down "What is this thing?" the boy questioned with wide eyes. Naruto held up a giant sword which was shaped like a key. The handle was grey with a square around it that was yellow. In the back he noticed a chain with a silver fox head on the end of it. The blade itself was grey at the end of it the teeth were designed like a three spiked crown.

"I have no idea what this is, but looks cool" he said happily.

_Keyblade..._ The voice said _Keyblade..._

All of a sudden, one of the black creatures caught up with Naruto and slowly snuck up behind him. The creature made a jump, but the blonde surprisingly swung around the enormous key and sliced the creature in half, making it evaporate into oblivion.

"Ok, I am liking this thing more and more" He chuckled.

More black creatures ran down the bridge, but the boy was prepared for them this time. With speed he didn't even realize he had, Naruto swerved through the horde of black creatures and sliced each and every one of them down the middle with amazing strength beyond what he thought he was capable of.

"Whoa! I could never run that fast before or use all that strength!" he shouted in surprise. He carefully examined his new weapon "This thing must give me the power to move faster and be stronger. Wonder what else it can do" All of a sudden, the Keyblade began floating in the air and started tugging him in the direction of the secret place "Whoa! Hold up!" Upon arriving at the secret place, Naruto found the entrance blocked off by a pure white door "That's never been there before"

Naruto quickly grabbed a hold of the door handles and forcefully opened the door. He crawled through the hole and surprisingly found Hinata facing the blank door "Hinata!"

Naruto was shocked at what happened next. As the lavender eyed girl turned around, he noticed that she was no longer her cheerful self, but it a trance-like state. Gone were the cheerful and shy eyes, replaced by lifeless ones and the cute timid smile that was always on her face was changed by a sad expression "Na...Naru…Naruto-kun" she said, in a somewhat pleading manner, as if asking him to… to save her.

She tried to reach out for her first friend until the blank door roared open, releasing a tsunami of dark energy that sent her flying. Naruto didn't need to think twice before he opened his arms to catch her, but she suddenly disappeared without a trace. The surprised boy looked back, worried to death about her, but the cruel wind blew Naruto back and out of the secret place. The boy soon found himself on the only remaining piece of the island.

"What's going on?" he screamed.

The ground shook and Naruto found himself confronting the same creature from his dream: the Darkside

"Oh, come on! Give me a break, you big black… thingy!" Naruto complained as he summoned the Keyblade.

The Darkside raised its fist and attempted to crush the orange pants wearing kid under it, but Naruto was too fast for it. The blonde, using his newly found super speed and strength, jumped up the fist and ran up the arm into the monster's face and stabbed the Darkside in the eye with his Keyblade. The giant monster screamed as it clutched its eye and slapped the kid back to the ground.

"Shadow Clone Technique" the boy shouted as four clones caught him to break his fall safely. With no choice left, the Darkside crouched down to its knees and gathered a large amount of energy into its open heart shaped chest "Oh no, you don't! Everyone charge!" Naruto shouted and all his clones obeyed.

This time the Dark side launched not one, but three white balls at the boy and his clones. Having nowhere else to go, the Naruto's stood their ground. As the three balls came closer, all five blonde boys gripped their respective Keyblade tightly and took a swing at the balls like a baseball bat. With an excellent teamwork all clones and their boss ran at the monster, slashing all the attacks as they charged against the humongous beast, before they climbed through its arms and reached his defenseless head.

The monster embraced himself for the worst, and the worst came. All five Naruto's rammed their keys at the monster's face, ultimately defeating him. Having no strength to move after the fatal blow to the head, the Darkside was swept up and absorbed by the ball into the sky.

After dispersing his clones Naruto felt all the exhaustion combined get at him. The whiskered blonde was out of breath, but he laughed from the victory "I won!" he laughed weakly between pants. He then fell over and fainted from being exhausted after all he did that day and the emotional damage it gave him to see what happened to his friends. His body felt the force of gravity pulling him into the storm. Everything went black.


	4. Chapter 4

**I OWN NOTHING, only weird crazy ideas… and for some reason I own a pet spider… that I just found in my own room… I don't think it's poisonous since it hasn't bitten me**

What a way to make an entrance

Aboard the Toad Express, Luigi, Silver and Toadsworth discussed the plan for arrival to Isle Delfino, since it was already dark and nighttime could be dangerous they would go directly to the hotel and after that Toadsworth would guard the princess with his life while Silver and Luigi went in search of the 'key' person. But before that the mushroom suggested the plumber a change of clothing.

Toadsworth said to Luigi "I suggest getting new clothes, Master Luigi, because it tends to get hot on Isle Delfino"

"Ok, but wouldn't it be better just to roll my sleeves?" Luigi asked.

"Yes, but I meant another type of special clothing" the mushroom stated "There is a ninja shop here where their clothes are made of a very interesting material that not only makes one look fashionable and young but also adapts itself to the weather so you don't have to worry if it's snowing or you have the sun right beside you"

"Ooh, those ninjas sure are used to all kind of environment, I should know" Silver stated, then said in a sad tone "Well, it's too bad my fur works like that otherwise I'd have loved to try some of those clothes"

"Hey, we're here" Peach called

The others turned to notice a sun with black oval eyes on the big monitor. The screen showed the next clip of a sign that said 'Welcome to Isle Delfino'. The title shifted to the left of the screen reveling little creatures around a huge statue. The creatures had leech seeds on the top of their heads, and their bodies came in many different colors, blue, tan, etc. The creatures wore grass skirts as the only piece of clothing. From what the group could tell, if the creature wore a green grass skirt it was male and if it wore a yellow and red skirt it was female. The town around them had small building made out of bamboo. Far in the back, a giant volcano could be seen.

"Welcome to the sun-drenched tropical paradise of isle Delfino!" The blue creature said happily to the audience, namely the crew "We're so pleased to welcome you to our beautiful home!" During the creature's narration, clips of many sights of the island were shown. Including food that made Luigi drool, a theme park and other sites "Come enjoy a natural wonderland to which we've added the world's finest resort facilities, a spectacular amusement park, and succulent seafood" He continued as the citizens began dancing "This and more await you on Isle Delfino! Come relax and let us refresh your body and spirit" He said finishing with a dance.

The people then felt a sudden shake and knew the Toad Express entered the world's atmosphere as it flew in. Upon arrival the four world travelers went in a short but peaceful trip on boat to the island from the airport, once on firm land they quickly went to the ninja shop where Luigi got a new plumber uniform. Luigi admired his new clothes with a low whistle.

"Now, this is nice" he said. His clothes were the typical overall and shirt plumber uniform. But the overalls were green, and had several pouches and zippers all over; a pouch on each thigh, on each hip and a big one on the chest, he had zippers on the thighs, the knees, over the pouch in the chest and at the sides of his abdomen. His new short sleeved shirt was a navy blue, and it had two pouches, one on each shoulder. To finish it off the short man still had his always clean white gloves for any needed mano-a-mano fight, his beloved hat on his head as well as his shoes, which were really resistant and helped him to jump higher than any other.

"Of course it's nice, I made it" the owner chided. She was a tomboyish girl about fifteen years old, had brown hair held in twin buns over her head and cute brown eyes. Her clothes consisted on a pink Chinese sleeveless shirt, a pair of green kung-fu pants and ninja sandals.

Luigi and the crew thanked and paid the girl for the clothes. The man in green then took out his beloved red vacuum and placed it on his back, then looked at FLUDD, said item looked like a backpack and it had a yellow nozzle on top and water in the tank below. Then the plumber noticed the red button on the yellow water pump and pressed it, with a flash of light FLUDD was occupying his vacuum's place, but the Poltergust 3000 was nowhere to be seen. This was thanks to the small mechanism all of Gadd's gadgets were compatible with each other, and so just by pressing a red button could the plumber change from using a ghost sucking vacuum to use a super powered water pump.

"Ok, let's-a-go!" Luigi said enthusiastically.

-**Delfino Island**-

After making sure Peach and Toadsworth were safe the two small warriors walked around the main plaza of the island.

"Huh?" Luigi said suddenly.

"What's the matter?" Silver asked. The Mario brother pointed to the sky and Silver looked up to find a random star blinking on and off.

"Look, a star's going out!" the man exclaimed. Then with a bright flash, the star disappeared completely. What they didn't was that the star that disappeared was the former Destiny Island.

"This isn't good. We're running out of time" Silver stated worriedly "Come on. We have to find this Itachi guy before it's too late"

"Maybe he'll find us" Luigi said hopefully.

"The odds of that happening are one in a million" Silver shrugged it off, making Luigi's head hang low "We can't waste anymore time. Let's go" Silver and Luigi made their way across the plaza, quickly followed by the small green dinosaur, Yoshi. Little did they know that the person they were looking for was much closer than they thought.

"Now we have to figure out who has that key and where he is hiding" Silver said seriously.

"Hey, if we are lucky, maybe that Itachi guy already found him" Luigi suggested, still trying to be positive.

"Let's hope you're right" Silver said doubtfully. As Silver made a right at the district shop, Luigi stopped when he noticed Yoshi heading the other direction. The plumber feared for the small green dinosaur, not only was it his friend, but it also had saved him since Luigi found him as an egg in that lava filled cave in a land of dinosaurs.

"Uh, Silver. Ya know, I think we should go the other way" the plumber suggested.

"And that's why you should leave the thinking to me"

"And that's why I should- Hey! I'm your senior, you should have a bit of respect!" and the two walked down, arguing about respect and age, not noticing Yoshi approaching someone in the alley.

That someone being Naruto.

Curious, Yoshi licked the boy's face with his long tongue, which startled the boy awake "What the heck was that?" Naruto asked, his vision soon became clear and he realized he was looking into the face of a dinosaur "Wow, a dinosaur… this dream just keeps getting weirder" Naruto mumbled, and when Yoshi noticed how out of reality the boy was he kicked the boy on the head, making him scream as he attempted to jump back, and instead falling in the sea water.

Yoshi giggled at Naruto's actions when the blonde's head came out of the water, Naruto soon realized he was no threat but still felt humiliated by what just happened "What are you?" Naruto asked the green dinosaur while getting out of the water, though, being unable to talk, Yoshi didn't answer.

"Yoshi, come on out from wherever you are!" Luigi called in the distance, worry obvious in his voice, Yoshi immediately ran back to him and the mobian.

"Hey wait!" Naruto called, attempting to chase after the small dinosaur. However, once Naruto got a good look at his surroundings Yoshi instantly vanished from his mind. He was in an island, but this was completely unlike his "What the... where am I?" Naruto asked to no one in particular, and then it hit him "Hey, wait! What happened to my island? Hinata and Satsuki, where are they?"

It was then Naruto realized the sad reality, he was alone. His friends were gone, his island had probably disappeared forever, and he was lost, lost somewhere he never knew existed. He felt so powerless… to have lost the two friends he loved the most, his whole home and being there, alone… that feeling of loneliness… that was what made it all feel even worse. The emptiness, the hollow hole in his heart that was once occupied by his friends…

"No!" the boy shouted "They must be here, all I have to do is find them!" he convinced himself and ran, then he realized something "Wow… this is definitely not my island"

The houses he saw were made of bamboo. He also noticed a market place were the citizens were selling fresh fruits. He also saw a giant light house far off in the distance, with its beam on. While looking around, he saw a mini harbor where he saw a giant sun hanging on a tower. He also noticed a small beach right nearby him. The island appeared to be surrounded by water. Naruto also saw a giant theme park in the distance which got him interested.

He turned around and noticed that he was standing in front of an old accessories shop "Maybe I can get some answers in here" Naruto entered the shop and took a good look around. It wasn't much, but it had a couch, a table, and a fire place to keep people warm. What he saw next shocked him. The keeper of the shop was a large red, black, and silver robot with a small yellow, platform head, giant metal claws with yellow, spiked cuffs, and short legs with black metal feet.

"Greetings! How may I..." the robot trailed off when he noticed he was talking to a kid "Oh, it's just a child"

"Hey, I'm no child!" the boy snapped "And my name's Naruto!"

"Ok, calm down" The robot waved his arms "Please explain your purpose for being here"

"Well first, I have to figure out where 'here' is."

"This is the world known as Delfino Island" The robot stated "This is a tropical resort, but now also serves as a place where people go when they are separated from their world. Just as I was from mine"

"Oh, I'm sorry" Naruto apologized for the reminder.

"Please don't be, I'm 100% fine" The robot said "And by the way, I am E-123 Omega, but Omega is just fine"

"Ok, but if this is another world I better start looking for my friends. Have you seen them? They're two girls, one has blue hair and white eyes and the other has raven hair and black eyes"

"I wish I could tell you, but I haven't seen them" Omega said and Naruto's head hung low, sadness obvious in his eyes and the robot noticed it "But if I do see them I'll tell you, and in case you ever are in danger, you may always return here so I can provide help"

"Thanks" Naruto said with a genuine smile, happy of finding someone being so nice to him. He said goodbye and with that the blonde was out the door.

After the blonde left the robot took out a small phone from one of his arms and started dialing the number of a certain man "I'd better tell Itachi about this, if that kid's not the Keyblade master with his illogically pure heart and how happy he was right now then I'm a toaster" Omega said half-jokingly.

Though the knowledge that he'd finally arrived on another world was an exciting prospect, Naruto couldn't enjoy it with his friends missing. He charged through the entire first district, but after a quick glance he knew neither Satsuki or Hinata were here, so he began asking people if they'd seen them anywhere. Sadly, like Omega none of them had. But the kid was still hopeful, and decided to go check the other districts in the town.

After finding the path to the residential area, the boy was disappointed to find it was blocked, so he tried the beach which he thanked God that was open for everyone. The moment Naruto stepped in the sand however, he knew something was wrong. There were no people outside in this place, while there were some people in the plaza, considering its size.

"Where is everybody?" Naruto asked curiously.

The reason the place was empty soon became clear after a random citizen burst out from behind him, screaming his head off, followed by a heartless. The blue skinned being jolted passed the kid, but wasn't quick enough for the heartless, which actually tore his heart out and devoured it. Naruto felt like vomiting upon such sight, but held it down and charged at the monster, he summoned the Keyblade and sliced the heartless in half. The heart flew out of the shadow and disappeared into darkness.

Naruto looked back to the body of the being that had lost his heart, but found that it was actually vanishing into darkness as a bunch of ashes flying in the wind.

"Ok, this is getting scary" Naruto said fearfully. A moment later a swarm of shadow heartless, but now they were accompanied by new ones with helmets on their heads, purple clothes with a shattered heart emblem on their chest and the same malicious yellow glowing eyes inside the helmet "Oh come on! Why do you always go for me?" the blond complained to the shadows, who snarled at him in response "Ok, bring it, I'll finish you all in one swing!"

The kid hastily began cutting the monsters down to size, but more of them appeared. He slashed the armored heartless away, but two more of them popped up, rising from the shadows in the ground. Every time he destroyed a heartless, even more showed up to attack him. The monsters just kept popping out of nowhere with the clear intent of devouring his heart.

After five minutes of wiping out heartless, things started to get dangerous. The armored heartless had begun hovering and then shot themselves at Naruto like bullets, the blond ninja toppled over in pain. The shadows excitedly began piling on top of Naruto, who just managed to swat them away and get back on his feet, only to get tripped up by another shadow.

Deciding it was the safer course of action; the kid leaped to his feet and ran away from them, going to one small house, slamming the door shut on the heartless, which made them crash painfully against the door.

XXXXXX

At that very same moment Naruto was safe, Silver and Luigi walked around the beach, keeping their eyes open at whatever could be in the sand.

"Did you make sure Yoshi is safe in the hotel?" Luigi asked his friend.

"I sure did" Silver replied tiredly. Who knew a small dinosaur could be strong enough to actually send him flying with a kick? "I wonder just where Itachi and this 'Key' person could be" the mobian wondered.

"You never know, maybe the key guy's right besides us" Luigi suggested.

"Don't be ridiculous, there's no way we can be that lucky" Silver said, not knowing that the short man was actually right.

XXXXXX

The first thing Naruto noticed about the small house he was in was that it was big and round even if it didn't look like it on the outside, the second thing he noticed was that there was woman, maybe the owner of this house, who was a cream colored rabbit with orange spots on her eyes, head, and the tips of her long ears wearing a purple dress. Even if he was surprised to see a humanoid rabbit the kid noticed that there was a hint of sadness in her eyes, the same sadness he had, the sadness of losing someone.

"Oh, and who might you be?" The rabbit asked politely, but Naruto detected the sadness in her voice.

"I'm Naruto, and sorry for barging in like that" he apologized with his big goofy grin, trying to be cheerful for both their sakes.

"I'm Vanilla, and don't be sorry, there are a lot of those heartless around, it's only fair to let people hide in your home when they make an appearance" the mobian rabbit said kindly.

"Well, are you really alright with that?" he asked.

"Oh, yes. Well, I run a nursery here so it's no problem at all… but…" Vanilla looked at the ground with sad eyes and sighed "You see, in my home there was a place called the Chao Garden, I used to run a nursery there to keep Chao safe until the heartless destroyed it. I ended up here, but the Chao eggs were scattered around the worlds in this galaxy and I don't know where they are" Vanilla barely managed to hold back her tears, so the boy decided to change the topic.

"What are Chao?" Naruto questioned trying to make the torn up Vanilla remember something happy.

"Chao are adorable little creatures" Vanilla explained with a small smile, remembering the good times she took care of them "They normally reside on our world, Mobius, but they're born in the Chao Garden, which is like a miniature world near mine. I run the Chao Garden and take care of the Chao eggs, but thanks to the heartless I lost all of them, and I only have this nursery because a good young man named Itachi was kind enough to give it to me so I could one day take care of any egg that reached this world… So far only nine from the whole ninety nine arrived here safely"

Seeing her remembering such loss the boy decided it was time to be one heck of a gentleman "How about I find them for you?" Naruto suggested.

"Would you?" Vanilla asked, surprised by the blonde's generous offer.

"Yeah, those Chao sound like they're part of your family, they're important to you, so if I find any eggs I'll bring them to you. Believe it!" the kid promised, with his big goofy smile, making the rabbit give one truly happy smile of her own.

"Oh thank you" Vanilla said in the verge of happy tears, giving Naruto a hug, a bone crushing one "How can I ever repay you?"

"Don't… break… my… back…" Naruto said breathlessly.

"Ok" Vanilla said, releasing Naruto from her death grip.

Now having promised to locate Vanilla's Chao eggs, Naruto left the nursery and once again entered the beach. Knowing the heartless would still be looking for him, the boy snuck his way towards the plaza. But once there he was surprised at how quiet it seemed now. After entering the plaza, the boy realized that he was now the only one there, everyone that was in this place earlier had apparently went home. But he couldn't blame them with those heart stealing monsters running around.

"Why are those creeps after me?" Naruto moaned.

"It's because you wield the Keyblade" Came a new voice, Naruto turned to see the man leaning against the store he'd been in earlier "Those creatures. No matter how far you run, they will come after you from out of nowhere" a dark low voice came from around the corner.

"And who are you?" the whiskered boy growled as he summoned his Keyblade for protection.

The mysterious voice moved out of hiding and made his presences know. He was a young man with black hair in a ponytail and coal eyes on his cold, stoic face. Below his eyes there were two weird lines that went from the bridge of his nose and to the back of the lower part of his cheeks, giving him a weasel like appearance. His choice of clothing was mostly black, he had a black sleeveless shirt with a high collar, black slacks, black ninja sandals and black arm guards that went from the elbow to the wrist; above the shirt he had a white bulletproof vest and on his arms he had two white gauntlets (Basically, his ANBU uniform). And to finish it off on the right side of his face he carried a white mask designed to look like a weasel's face.

"And they'll keep on coming after you, as long as you continue to wield the Keyblade" The man continued, then put his hand on his forehead "But why? Why would it choose someone like you?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Naruto yelled feeling offended.

"Never mind" the man sighed and moved closer with his hand held out to the Keyblade "Now, let's see that Keyblade"

"What? There is no way you are getting your hands on this!" Naruto exclaimed as he moved to his fighting position.

"Hn... looks like you're a stubborn one" The man mumbled under his breath as he reached to his back, and in his hand he held a simple ninjato "Very well, then we will do things your way. Besides, I needed a good warm-up for my training"

Naruto was the first to attack as he charged at the man with his Keyblade held high. He brought his Keyblade down, which the other swordsman easily blocked with his short sword. The kid attempted to knee him in the gut, but the stoic man easily swatted his leg away and punched the boy in his stomach. The force of the punch was so strong that it made the blonde fall to his knees, trying hard to keep his ramen inside his guts.

"Had enough?" the swordsman asked.

"In your dreams!" Naruto growled as he swallowed hard the ramen in his throat. He ran and attempted to stab the stoic swordsman, but the weasel masked man disappeared into thin air. The boy searched the plaza for him, but couldn't find him.

"Your skills are too weak to be compared to mine" The man said from behind the blonde. What Naruto knew next was that a heel impacted on his back, making him fall face first to the ground. The boy immediately jumped back to his feet and swung around to hit his opponent, but the man disappeared again. That's when Naruto felt another punch, but this one was shot to his jaw, making his head be violently shaken back as he fell to the ground "You're determinate enough to hold your own against the heartless, but I'm way stronger than them. So do yourself a favor and give up"

"Not on your life!" Naruto suddenly shouted.

Before the masked swordsman could even realize it, the boy shot up off the ground and slashed the man straight upwards. The swordsman stepped back in pain before he was kicked to the side of his face and sent flying into the palm tree behind him and fell down. The swordsman grabbed said palm tree as support to pull himself up. He moved away just in time as five Naruto's came in front out of nowhere and cut across, cutting the tree in the process.

"Shadow clones, huh?" the raven haired man mused to himself "It has become clear that I have underestimated you" he admitted "But, are you skilled enough to wield such a powerful item as the Keyblade?"

"If you don't think so then I'll show you" Naruto said, determination burning in his eyes as he raised the giant key, his clones doing the same.

"Fine, this will be the last strike, the first to make it wins"

"I'll make you be sorry"

The district was filled with silence, both combatants waiting for the other to make a move. They stood there in silence until the man slightly moved his foot. They both charged at furiously blinding speeds and jumped up into the air. The Naruto's and the swordsman came closer to each other and gripped their swords tightly. They both brought their blades up and swung them down with one final blow. The two landed and waited to see who had won.

All the shadow clones vanished in a big poof of smoke, while the real Naruto bent his legs.

Suddenly, a large cut appeared on the man's vest as he fell to his knees.

Naruto smirked, and said in tired pants "And… to finish it… off…" however he could not finish the sentence as he felt all of the energy in his body slowly die away. The orange pants wearing boy struggled to stay on his feet, but failed and fainted backwards. The swordsman stood up, barely affected by the kid's attack but still winded.

"Well, at least he was much better than I thought" he complimented.

"Aw, you're slipping, Weasel" A young, female voice said.

"Ms. Tenten, please don't say mean things about Mr. Itachi" said a much younger voice, also female.

The man known as Itachi looked back to see the bun haired girl that gave Luigi his new clothes, she was holding the hand of a young rabbit that looked exactly like Vanilla, but this was a small girl and she wore a small basic orange dress with a blue ribbon on it and wore orange and yellow shoes.

"It's alright, Cream. And for your information, I went easy on him, Tenten. And lastly, don't forget that my name is Itachi" Itachi said sheathing his ninjato "Still, things are worse than we thought. A lot worse"

XXXXXX

It was early in the evening and most of the citizens are in their houses, hiding out from the dark creatures. The few who were brave enough remained outside. In another part of the island, on a beach called "Sirena Beach", most of the citizens have gone into the famous Hotel Delfino for the night. The hotel was a single big building with a bamboo roof and a sign that said "Hotel Delfino" on the front.

It was surrounded by a rather large beach, with beach chairs, a bamboo roof area where people could get out of the shade. It was low tide as the water came in from a distance. Two figures were seen in the back of the building. They were slowly walking around the back of the hotel, as if they were looking for someone. It was non-other than our dear hedgehog and the short plumber. They were cautious as they walked down the back of the hotel. The wind howled at them lightly, they felt the tension from it. Luigi had switched FLUDD for the Poltergust 3000.

"Man, this place at night reminds me of that mansion, although it's a lot cleaner" he said with a nervous laugh "Sure is spooky, huh?"

"Don't tell me you're scared, Luigi" Silver smirked "I thought you were supposed to be a great hero, you even fought ghosts in that mansion"

"Yeah, I did, but it was so scary I almost pissed myself. And what about you, you aren't afraid?" Luigi asked nervously as he looked at each side with his dear vacuum ready for anything.

"Of course not!" Silver stated seriously "I am the one that must protect Blaze's kingdom along with her. I am obligated to have to uphold my reputation as a guardian and a hero but am also to keep secret of over a thousand years of ninja techniques my master taught me from outsiders, I am expected to hold no fears. I am..." Suddenly, a hand tapped Silver on his shoulder "DOOMED!" Silver launched into the air a good fifteen feet and landed in Luigi's arms.

"Who's there?" Luigi asked as he struggled to hold the mobian and aim his vacuum at whoever may be an enemy.

"Excuse me, but did a man named Mario send you two here?" a young female voice came from behind the pair. They saw a young woman with red hair that reached her ankles with a small pin on the left side of her face to keep it away from her pair of tender greenish grey eyes. She was really beautiful, but a bit tomboyish, and had a face as tender as her eyes. Her choice of clothing consisted in a blur short sleeved shirt, a black long skirt, a beige apron and ninja sandals.

"Oh, yes he did, ma'am" Silver said with a small blush that Luigi shared for their little spectacle as the mobian got off the man's arms.

The woman giggled a bit and said "Please forgive me for startling you" she apologized with a sheepish grin as she bowed "You see, Itachi told me that..."

"Hold on, you know Itachi?" Silver interrupted in his own gesture of surprise.

"Uh-huh, I am a good friend of his. My name is Kushina" the redhead said as she introduced herself "Itachi asked for me to look for two heroes coming from the Mushroom Kingdom searching for the key"

"Thank goodness" Silver sighed in relief as he realized that their seemingly never-ending search would soon be over.

"So, do you know where this key guy is?" Luigi asked until Silver elbowed him in the gut "Ouch! What was that for?"

"Don't be rude. She was kind enough to introduce herself, so we must do the same" Silver growled at his friend. Silver stepped up and bowed to Kushina "Forgive my friend. My name is Silver the Hedgehog, I'm the guardian of my princess' kingdom" Silver then pointed to the short plumber "And this is Luigi Mario, hero of the Mushroom Kingdom"

"Hi" Luigi waved.

"It is nice to meet you two. Please, follow me before those black creatures show up again" the redhead said.

"What black creatures?" Luigi asked, his hands once again gripping his dear vacuum tightly.

"All will be explained momentarily" Kushina said before she entered through the back door of the hotel. The three headed into the hotel and walked up the stairs. Opening the double doors at the top, they walked in, arriving at the lobby. The lobby itself was blue. The entire lobby was shaped like plus sign around the lobby; receptions were at wooden desks selling times. There were tour maps, pamphlets for spots on the island, and a snack bar which had fruit out on display.

Luigi saw the food, and he was so hungry that low growls were heard from his stomach "Excuse me" he said with a blush and a sheepish smile at the two "After this is over I'd really like enjoy some pasta"

"Oh, come on, can't you think of the mission?" Silver asked with his hands on his hips and irritation in his voice, before his stomach growled too "On second thought, I guess it's way past dinner time" he said with a blush of his own and a sheepish, apologetic smile.

"Well, I have ramen. It ain't pasta, but it's still noodles" Kushina offered.

"That will work" the plumber said, patting his stomach with one hand and licking his lips in anticipation. Silver nodded in agreement.

XXXXXX

Naruto could only see darkness before his eyes. His body felt numb, he couldn't move. Finally, he felt movement in his legs that worked its way up to his neck. He slowly opened his eyes. From his point of view he could see that his vision was blurry. He slowly rubbed his eyes, trying to get the particles out. As his vision got a bit clearer, he got a decent picture of his surroundings.

He was lying in a single bed that was already made. He noticed the walls were colored green. Looking above, he saw a chandelier hanging on the ceiling. Next to his bed was a small desk that had a lamp on it. The blonde looked to see he was in a hotel room of some sort, which was pretty big. He saw a giant round brown table and chair underneath it. He noticed two brown doors, one next to him and one across from him. The whiskered boy was about to figure out where he was when he heard a familiar voice.

"Wake up you lazy bum" Came a female voice.

Naruto slowly and painfully awoke from his slumber. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, Naruto turned to the source of the voice, which was none other than... Hinata? Naruto prayed this wasn't a dream, and that everything that just happened was. He just wanted to be with his friends once again, to laugh with Hinata and Satsuki, to taste Hinata's cooking and challenge Satsuki once again.

"Feeling alright?" Hinata asked.

"Yeah, a little dizzy" the blonde said while rubbing his head, Hinata giggled. He was relieved to see her happy, it made it all the struggle worth seeing her smile.

"Those creatures that attacked you are called heartless, they were after your Keyblade. But your heart's what they're really interested in, especially because you wield the Keyblade" Hinata explained.

"Wow, you really know a lot, Hinata" Naruto stated.

"Hinata? Who're you talking about, I'm Tenten the Great Weapon Mistress" 'Hinata' said. Naruto stared in confusion as her appearance suddenly altered from Hinata to the bun haired girl that owned the ninja shop. The boy simply rubbed his eyes, then blinked and turned back to rub his eyes, only to stare disbelievingly before he hung his head in disappointment. He blushed, feeling so embarrassed. He couldn't stop thinking about her and he must have begun to hallucinate about her.

"Oh, man, that was so embarrassing!" he blushed nervously. He then rubbed his head and apologized "I'm really sorry; I thought you were someone else!"

Tenten chuckled, "Don't worry about it. That's how clueless people like you act some"

The blonde angrily stood up, offended by her words "Hey, what's that suppose to mean?" the boy snarled. He then stumbled back again, still a little weak from the fight. He fell back onto the bed, his head hitting the mattress hardly, the soreness and dizziness returning to his body as all became fuzzy.

"Geez, he really did a number on you" the bun haired said. She then turned to the shadows "Looks like you overdid it again, Weasel"

"It's Itachi" the man said as he stepped out of the shadows. Naruto growled and tried to get up, but the beating Itachi gave him earlier was still there "By the way, have you gotten Cream back to her mother, Vanilla has been really down lately"

"Yes, I did, oh so great leader" Tenten answered, the sarcasm more than obvious.

That's when Itachi took a step further towards Naruto, revealing behind him a table with a steaming bowl of "RAMEN!" The whiskered boy shouted as he instantly bolted up and in the blink of an eye was at the table. Both Itachi and Tenten were beyond shocked by this, and even more when Naruto swallowed the whole bowl with one gulp, and I mean it literally, the boy looked as if his life was perfect as his eyes were closed in a slap happy U-shape. That's when he noticed something beside the door; it was "The Keyblade?"

After regaining her composure from the shock of such love for ramen, Tenten awkwardly answered "Yeah, we had to get it away from you to shake off those creatures" the girl explained as she walked over to Itachi "It turns out that's how they were tracking you."

"Fighting you and taking the Keyblade away was the only way to conceal your heart from them" the weasel masked man explained coolly "Unfortunately, it won't work for long. They have already had a taste of your heart's power through the Keyblade. So no matter where you hide, they will always find you" Itachi grabbed the Keyblade "Still, it's hard to believe you of all people are the chosen one" he held the Keyblade out and allowed it to disappear from his hands. It later reappeared in the boy's hands "Well, guess beggars can't be choosers" the swordsman sighed.

"Why don't you start making sense?" the young swordsman demanded "What's going on around here?"

XXXXXX

In the room besides Naruto's the hedgehog, the plumber and the redhead were sitting in the table enjoying hot steaming ramen.

"Ok, you both know there are many other worlds out there besides your kingdoms and this island, right?" Kushina asked after finishing her fifth bowl, shocking the two heroes.

"Yeah" Silver answered, trying to hide his shock as he ate his second bowl.

"But they are supposed to be a secret" Luigi said, covering his mouth to emphasize his point.

"They've been secret because they have never been connected before. Until now" Kushina said, soon looking downcast at her now empty bowl "When the heartless came, everything changed"

XXXXXX

"Heart-less?" Naruto asked with a mouth full of noodles… from Itachi's and Tenten's ramen bowls. Both agreed to feed him since he'd need the strength for later, but seeing him inhaling ramen like a vacuum does with dust was both a bit disturbing and slightly amusing.

"The black creatures that attacked you earlier before Itachi wiped the floor with your ass, remember?" Tenten said as she leaned back in her chair, making Naruto growl.

"They're creatures that are created from the darkness and born without hearts" Itachi recited.

"The darkness in people's hearts, that's what attracts them" the weapon mistress stated.

"And there is darkness within every heart. Even yours, kid" the swordsman looked downcast at the nervous boy.

"Hey, have you ever heard of a person named Tobi before?" Tenten suddenly asked.

XXXXXX

"Tobi?" Luigi questioned curiously, scratching his head clueless after swallowing the first noodles of his third bowl.

"He was one of the scientists that was studying the heartless" the redhead explained as she ate her eighth bowl of ramen "He recorded all his findings in a very detailed report"

"Can we see them?" Luigi asked with both hands extended.

"If I could I would gladly show them to you, make no doubt of that" Kushina said.

"What's wrong?" Silver asked.

"The pages were scattered everywhere" Kushina explained.

"What?" Silver and Luigi exclaimed in shock.

"They were scattered around too many worlds" the woman finished.

"Hey, wait a minute" Luigi suddenly had a realization "Maybe my bro went to find them"

"Yes, those were my thoughts exactly" the redhead nodded her head in agreement.

"We gotta find them quick!" Luigi exclaimed as he stood up and was about to run outside had Silver not used his psychic powers to hold him still.

"Hold on, your brother sent us here to find the key first" Silver stated as he put the plumber back on his seat.

"That's right, the Keyblade" Kushina said.

XXXXXX

"So...this is the key?" Naruto questioned while observing his weapon after he set down his tenth empty bowl on the table.

"Exactly!" Tenten said, more out of amazement at how much the kid could eat than anything else thinking this kid put Kushina to shame when it was about eating ramen.

"The heartless have great fear of the Keyblade" Itachi explained "That's why they will keep coming after you, no matter what" he moved to the door and leaned against the edge.

"Well, I didn't ask for this" the whiskered boy stated.

"The Keyblade chooses its master and it chose you" Tenten explained.

"Sorry kid, it's just tough luck" Itachi said in his always stoic voice.

"How did all this happen?" the kid questioned "I remember waiting for ramen in my room…" He was then struck with a sudden realization and jumped up off the bed. "Wait! What happened to my home? My island? Satsuki!" His voice lowered sadly at the last name as he remembered what happened to her "Hinata…"

"You know what, kid? I really don't know" Itachi replied with an emotionless voice and face.

Naruto threw himself back onto the bed with a heart full of sadness. He lost his home and his friends. He and the girls had always wanted to escape the island for their own reasons. Naruto to find his parents, Hinata to find her home, and Satsuki to find her brother; but now, even if he did find his parents, it would be totally meaningless now if he didn't have his two most beloved persons to rejoice with him when their dreams were made true.

"So...what do I do now?" the boy asked sorrowful.

"You have to get ready for the future" the weasel themed swordsman said "Eventually they will find you here. But first, I think you should learn about the Keyblade's powers."

"Its powers?" Naruto questioned.

"Yeah, the Keyblade has the ability to unlock anything" Tenten stated.

"And that's not all" Itachi said "Each keychain attached to the Keyblade gives it a new form and gives its user a different ability. For example, the current keychain you're carrying heightened your speed and strength."

"No wonder I was able to fight like that" the blonde said, staring at the keychain as he remembered how easily it seemed to destroy the heartless.

"Indeed. Now let us join our friends in the other room" Itachi said as he motioned to the door.

"Itachi!" the bun haired suddenly screamed as she pointed to the right of the room.

They turned to see a soldier heartless appear, but Itachi quickly disposed of it by kicking it through the window.

"Tenten, run and get Kushina out of here!" the man shouted.

Nodding her head in agreement, the girl quickly ran through the doors. On the other side, Silver and Luigi were about to reach the handle when the door suddenly flew open, slamming the grey hedgehog and the plumber in the wall. Kushina instantly realized something was wrong and left the place along with the weapon mistress, leaving Luigi and Silver to pry themselves off the wall.

"Naruto, let's go!" Itachi announced.

"Okay!" The boy nodded. Itachi quickly went through hand signs and from his mouth he spat an enormous fireball, the ball hitting several creatures that tried to enter the room, knocking them out the window. "Damn, I'm glad I didn't fight him for real" the boy said under his breath.

The two quickly ran out of the hotel room and ran to an emergency exit on the right. They entered a small room with stairs that went up or down. The heartless appeared on the stairs, awaiting the heroes' arrival. Naruto swung the Keyblade back and forth, slashing the heartless into pieces as he passed through the hordes of enemies. He felt the force of their bodies as he pushed his weight into the attack. Itachi basically did the same, but with his speed and strength the critters were no problem, even less when he combined his attacks with his fire techniques.

Soon both swordsmen ran outside the hotel to the shores of Sirena beach. The two continued to battle the heartless, delivering hard blows to each of them. Finally, they reached the shores of the beach, stopping to catch their breath.

"What do we do?" the boy asked his senior swordsman tiredly "We can't beat them all if they keep on popping out of nowhere like a plague"

"There's a solution" Itachi said calmly as he recovered his breath "I can feel the strongest source of darkness coming from that amusement park called Pinna Park!" He pointed towards a giant island that had an amusement park "Go there and find the leader! If you beat the leader that will cut off the darkness from this world for a while, it may only be temporary but it's the best we've got. Get going and don't bother with the weak ones!"

The warrior quickly ran for it and soon hordes of heartless fell down as he kept on going, leaving Naruto behind. The boy knew that time was of the essence, but he couldn't swim across an entire ocean, yet that didn't mean he didn't have a plan "Gotta thank Ero-senin for teaching me chakra control" he said as he jumped to the water, but instead of sinking he just stood there, as if it were solid ground. Thanks to the use of his chakra to keep himself above the water or in case he needed to walk in walls vampire style he could reach anyplace he needed. So without further ado the boy ran at the park.

XXXXXX

As Itachi ran around in the hotel taking down all heartless that tried to attack the inhabitants he noticed something off, namely what seemed like two weird paintings in the wall, one was from a grey hedgehog and the other of a green clad plumber with a vacuum on his back. He immediately recognized the latter and pried both 'paintings' off the wall.

"Wow, thank you. And people say that diets are good" Luigi said jokingly as he rubbed his sore back.

"No problem, but you're Mario's brother, Luigi, right?" Itachi asked the man in green that suddenly looked at him with hopeful eyes.

"You've seen my brother?" the plumber asked, hoping to hear that his small big brother was alright.

"Yes, I did. I'm Itachi" the grey mobian and the short man were about to say something, but the weasel masked man interrupted them as he knew time was of essence "We can have any introduction done later, right now you two should head off to the amusement park, that's where the key's at. I'd go with you, but with the heartless around it'd be better if I stayed here to avoid risking the islanders' lives" Itachi said as he took out his ninjato.

Silver nodded "Alright, leave everything to us!"

XXXXXX

Naruto entered the park through an upside down U-like entrance. He noticed that the park was abandoned due to the face that the heartless were invading. As he walked through the gates, the Keyblade Master looked around the park noticing many different types of rides. He saw a purple octopus Ferris wheel, a spinning ships ride, and a red roller coaster track moving around, above the island. He also saw a Yoshi-go-round with other color Yoshis, different from the green lizard. As he walked to the center of the park, looking around for the leader that Itachi mentioned while, unknown to him, Silver and Luigi had arrived a few seconds before him thanks to Silver's teleportation abilities.

"Are you sure he is here?" Luigi asked as he looked from the top of the building.

"Of course, my psychic powers are never wrong" Silver stated.

They were up in the line for the roller coaster, getting a better look around the area as they tried to spot the key, but Naruto was in their blind spot as he stood near the small pool. Suddenly, two soldier heartless before them. The plumber raised his fists, while the grey hedgehog held out his psychic powered gloves to them.

"Do you think these are the heartless guys?" Luigi questioned.

"Only one way to find out" Silver said as he stepped forward "Let's go, Luigi!" Somehow, their plans didn't count one of the soldiers carrying a bomb, and that's when things went wrong "On second thought, we're pretty much dead meat"

Silver and Luigi were hurtled into the air thanks to the explosion. Naruto heard the explosion from above and looked up to see the two small heroes screaming their heads off heading straight for him. The boy attempted to run, but unfortunately was too late when the two landed on top of him. The three were smashed across the ground with Luigi and Silver on top of poor Naruto. Just then, the two noticed the Keyblade that the orange pants wearing boy held in his hands.

"The key!" Silver and Luigi exclaimed.

"Hey, what's the big idea?" Naruto asked them angrily as he still felt sore from his fight with Itachi.

"Sorry, kid" Luigi said with a nervous laugh "We just wanted to have a great way to make an entrance"

"Please stop joking and get off me!" the blond said as he struggled to get the duo off.

The two jumped off Naruto's back who slowly got back up. His back felt a bit shaky from the impact, but it wore off pretty quickly. The boy was about to say something to them when the entire area began to shake. They felt the vibration in their feet as it got stronger. The three stood there ready to fight, Naruto with his Keyblade, Silver with his psychic powers and Luigi with his gloved hands, and then noticed the gates all around the park were sealed by metal bars. Giant purple cubes appeared from the ground, blocking anyway of escaping.

The heartless then appeared at the top of the bricks and jumped down in front of the group, all three getting into more steady stances. The heroes expected the heartless to fight them, but surprisingly bowed to the ground and disappeared.

"Uh...did we win?" Luigi asked.

"It's never that easy" Silver said as he pointed to the sky.

The other two followed his hand to see a ton of purple metal fall from the sky. The metal fell on the pool and bounced off the water, before it formed a suit of armor floating in midair with two floating claws, two feet and a floating helmet. Naruto noticed that the armor had the same emblem on its chest as the other heartless. He didn't know why, but that emblem made him think of his ravenette and blue haired friends.

"Listen, kid" Silver said, snapping Naruto out of his trance "If you really are who we think you are; then we have no choice but to fight it"

"Alright, I've been meaning to give these creeps some payback" the blond exclaimed as he gripped the Keyblade in his hands.

The heroes faced off against the metal menace known as Guard Armor as they ran across the pool. Guard Armor shot a flying fist to the ground, which the heroes easily avoided. Unfortunately, the second hand came around and slapped them to the water of the pool, even if the water broke their fall that didn't mean the slap didn't hurt, but they sucked it up like real men. The heroes pulled themselves up and out of the water before they charged at the Guard Armor. Suddenly, the Guard Armor's hands started spinning around in circles. Naruto was about to get hit when Luigi grabbed him and jumped a good ten feet in the air to avoid the hit, but Silver used a psychic barrier to protect himself and repel the hands back.

"Wow, how can you jump like that, mister?" Naruto asked in amazement as he noticed the man didn't even use chakra.

"Years and years of practice and fighting a seven feet tall evil turtle, and the name's Luigi, kid" the plumber said with no small amount of pride.

As Silver dropped the barrier, he failed to notice the separate feet heading this way. Silver was unfortunate enough to be kicked to the pool by the foot. As the feet came closer, Silver felt that he was going to die. Silver closed his eyes and awaited his imminent doom. But it never came. Silver opened his eyes and found Luigi holding the feet away from his friend. The small plumber grabbed the feet by their ankles and threw them back at the Guard Armor's torso, making it fall down.

While the critter was down, Naruto took the opportunity to slash the Guard Armor in its fallen head. Unfortunately, the Guard Armor's head turned sharply around and spotted him. The Guard Armor's torso started spinning around suddenly spun around and created a whirlwind around its body. The whirlwind caught the whiskered boy and spun him around before being thrown out onto the pool once again. Fortunately for him Silver used his psychic powers to get a hold of the kid and settle him down on the pool beside him.

"What… what was that?" asked the astonished blond.

"It's my psychic powers, handy, huh?" Silver stated with a puffed chest.

"Um… fellas" Luigi said in a shaky voice as the Guard Armor started to approach them "Yeah… I think it's pretty mad"

Naruto took the time to think. The Guard Armor could attack with separate parts of its body. Silver was able to repel the hands, Luigi was able to stop the feet. And with the right timing... it'd be goodbye for the enormous armor "Hey, guys" Naruto said out loud "I have an idea"

"Please, enlighten us" Silver said as he grabbed random rocks to throw at the metallic beast with his telekinesis.

"Just do the same thing you did earlier, only destroy them this time" The kid said. Silver was confused for a moment before he realized what Naruto meant.

"You're smarter than I thought, and that's saying a lot" Silver half-complimented.

"Hey!"

"We better get it on, that thing is getting way too close!" Luigi shouted as he raised his gloved hands.

The boy gripped his Keyblade and charged forward at the suit of armor. The Guard Armor launched his hand forward, but soon found that he was unable to move them. Silver was using his telekinetic powers to grip the hands tightly until he mentally crushed them to dust. With the blond getting closer, the Guard Armor sent his feet to attack. They were only a few feet from orange pants wearing boy when Luigi jumped from out of nowhere and used his superhuman strength to crush the feet on impact with one well calculated punch. Naruto jumped at the torso. The torso attempted to create another hurricane, but the blond held his hands in his best and favorite hand sign.

"Multi Shadow Clone Technique!" the kid yelled. And in one big puff of smoke about a hundred Naruto's charged at the armor.

"What the?" Silver and Luigi shouted in sheer amazement at the trick the kid just pulled, but decided it was better to make questions later, but the grey hedgehog had a very good idea of what to ask.

The blond and his clones stabbed and slashed the Keyblade into the Guard Armor's helmet and torso, ultimately defeating it without giving the heartless any rest. Then the now dented torso started shaking for a moment, before it collapsed to the ground.

"Yeah!" the boy and his clones shouted in victory, before he dispelled them. For a moment, a bright light escaped from the torso of the defeated armor before it completely disappeared. It was over. Naruto and the others won the battle… and that's when he fell unconscious.

"Kid!" Luigi shouted as he ran at the boy with Silver right behind him.

Then they heard the boy mumble something, upon approaching their ears they heard the word "Ramen…" Then they heard a low guttural growl coming from the blonde's stomach. Soon both heroes chuckled at the boy's antics.

"Boy, this kid is unbelievable" Luigi said chuckling as he got the boy out of the water.

"Yeah, and I think I know who trained him" Silver said with a small smile on his lips.

XXXXXX

After the boy regained his consciousness, and ate thirty seven bowls of raven much to the heroes' amazement, Silver and Luigi confronted Naruto about their mission. They told him everything; Mario's disappearance, other worlds, and finally, the search for the wielder of the Keyblade "So, you guys were looking for me?" the kid asked.

Both small heroes nodded their head yes "They too have been looking for the wielder of the Keyblade" A voice came from behind. Naruto looked back to see Itachi, Tenten, and a redhead he didn't know approach them.

"Hey, it's you, weasel man!" Naruto exclaimed happily.

"That's Itachi!" the man growled while Tenten giggled, but he took a deep breath and stated "Naruto, it would be a good idea if you went with them. Especially if you want to find your friends again"

"Yeah, you should come with us" Luigi said excitedly "We can go to other worlds using the Toad Express we brought"

Naruto took a moment to think about it. If he could go to other worlds, then maybe there was a chance to find his two most beloved persons "I wonder if I'll find Hinata and Satsuki again" he thought out loud with a bit of sadness.

"Of course we can" Silver said. Naruto looked happily at the psychic mobian, hope filling his heart. Yet Luigi was a bit unsure about Silver's comment and moved closer to his ear.

"Are you sure, Silver?" the short man whispered.

"Who knows?" Silver whispered "But we need him to come with us to help us find your brother"

"All right" Naruto chirped "I've decided. I'll go with you guys and find my friends and Mario! Believe it!"

"Good to hear. The name's Silver the Hedgehog" Silver introduced himself as he held his hand out.

"I'm-a-Luigi Mario" Luigi placed his hand on top of Silver's.

"And I'm Naruto" the blond placed his hand on top of his two new friends'.

"All for one and one for all" Luigi said with a gigantic smile as they raised their hands high in the air. Tenten and Kushina smiled at the group, the latter eyeing the blond as she remembered someone she met in the past, Itachi just smiled, knowing that he could count on the three heroes. Perhaps there was hope after all for everyone.

XXXXXX

Unknown to anybody, a group of creatures and people were watching the heroes through a big crystal ball. The group of creatures was surrounding the small table where the crustal ball was. The room they were in was very dark, and was hard to tell of the surroundings. The first person around the table was a man wearing a red buttoned shirt, red pants, had short brown hair, and white shoes. He had no eyebrows above his eyes, and he sat in a chair, petting a tan cat creature with a red dot on its head.

"Who would have ever though that a child, even if he were a trained ninja, would defeat that heartless?" The Team Rocket leader called Giovanni said.

Next to him was a grey skinned man wearing brown armor on his chest, a medieval red shirt on the inside, a giant grey cape, grey boots, with orange hair and a crystal on his head "It's not just the power of the boy" The dark king Ganondorf explained "The power of the Keyblade gives him that extra strength"

Next to him was a scrawny man with a black suit and fedora hat with green slimy hair in a mop hair cut and a face that resembled both a fox's and a snake's "Why don't we just turn the little punk into a heartless? Hyahahahaha!" suggested Yuki 'Hazama' Terumi, captain of the NOL Intelligence Department "It would make things a lot faster. Hehehehehehe!"

Next to was a man clad in a green armor all over his body with two skull like armor plates for his shoulders, his eyes were completely red and he had a big spiky ponytail on the back of his green helmet that resembled a rocket's fire "And as for the brat's friends, they're lackeys of that fat plumber man" said the cybernetic pirate known as Teisel Bonne "They all look like little ugly rusty pieces of junk from where I see them"

"You're not exactly Mr. Handsome yourself" Laughed the evil snake witch Medusa, her golden slit eyes shining. She wore a full body sleeveless black suit with a hood that covered her blonde hair with several bangs on the back of her head and tied in a front braid; on her arms were snake tattoos and she was standing in her bare feet.

"You! How dare you say that about me?" Teisel yelled at the witch, offended by her words "If I had one of my sister's robots I would..."

"Silence!" snapped a sinister, creepy voice. The villains turned to see a dark figure hidden in the shadows with golden glowing eyes "Remember, the Keyblade chose that little brat to wield its magic. But its magic is no match for what we've got. As for the boy, will he conquer the darkness, or will the darkness swallow him? Either way, he could be useful to our plans"

All villains grinned evilly at the idea.

XXXXXX

Luigi and Toadsworth waved good-bye to Peach who watched them go. Naruto and Silver looked down at the water, seeing it was clear and crystal. As he looked out at the water, Naruto felt a certain feeling of nostalgia as he remembered how much fun he had in the beaches of his island and how he and the girls would always spend their money together for some good watermelons in a warm summer to enjoy their time together near the fresh water.

"You'll find them" the boy heard Luigi whisper behind him with a happy smile "Believe me, kid, this ride runs on happy thoughts, so if you believe you'll find them then you'll be with them"

"Do you really believe so?" the boy asked, still feeling that hole in his chest caused by the wish to see and laugh with them.

"Yeah, I do" the short man said and then used a warm smile "You know, I once lost my most brother, he was the only family I had… but I never believed I'd never see him again, so I kept on fighting the monsters that took him away, and you know what happened?" he had a very big smile, and Naruto shook his head in excitement and anticipation "I kept on fighting for him even if I was scared half to death, with the idea that I'd see him, and after the fight was over… well, I ended up laughing a bunch" the plumber chuckled at the memory, and for some reason he didn't feel as hollow as before.

"Thanks, Luigi" the blond said and let out a small chuckle.

The four got on board the ship and Naruto looked around at it. He was stunned by seeing this first class plane. He saw the giant television monitor in front of him, and the giant red, cushioned chairs.

"Well, this is it, Naruto. Welcome to the Toad Express" Silver announced to Naruto.

"Wow! Talk about first class!" the boy shouted excitedly. He then sat in a red seat and continued looking around in amazement.

"It's quite amazing, isn't it?" Silver chortled. The group noticed the seatbelt sign above them light up. They then put on their seatbelts "Well then, shall we take off. The sooner we end this the better"

The pilot up front got the ok to start the engines. After a few moments, it ran down the runway, the wheels picking up more and more speed. The blond felt his body getting pushed back into his seats as the plane started to go high in the sky. The plane reached the end of runway and took off into the air. The four fell back into their seats as the plane left the world's atmosphere, before reaching the stars.

"Wow…" Naruto said in amazement as he looked all the stars from his window. He felt sad as he wanted to enjoy them with the girls, but soon Luigi's words came to his mind and he smiled "I can't wait to show all of this to Satsuki and Hinata, they're bound to love it!"

"Oh, and who are the ladies, Romeo?" Silver teased, making the blond go cherry red in the face.

"They're just my friends!" the kid shouted in a high pitched voice that made the mushroom, the plumber and the hedgehog bust a gut with laughter.

"Yeah, that's what I said before dating Blaze, Helium Voice" Silver said both sincerely and mockingly with a Cheshire Cat grin, earning several red veins in the boy's head.

From a distance, Kushina saw the plan fly off. She clasped her hands together with a worried look, but she had to hope for the best, and she knew they would come back alive "Good luck" she said under her breath, but then she shook her head and a smile came to her face "I'm really worrying too much about him, as you did, Minato…" she laughed a bit "I shouldn't worry, after all he's not only Minato's son, but also hers"

**XXXXXX**

AND DONE!

Now, some of you may be wondering why Luigi is so freaking strong. Well, to answer that, do remember that he and Mario had always been super strong punching Bowser with strength enough to send his colossal shell flying high in the sky.

And about Silver knowing ninja secrets, well, Naruto will need someone to teach him jutsus and the hedgehog seemed more than fit for the job, and that I have plenty of plans for the sequels regarding this.


	5. Chapter 5

**I OWN NOTHING, only this saying: "Real life sucks, but if you don't face it and just give up then you suck even more"**

Gotta beat 'em all!

The four travelers were still flying to whatever new world awaited for them, all of them feeling excited and nervous at the same time, but all held the hope of seeing Naruto's friends and Luigi's brother. Currently the plumber was deep asleep with a newspaper over his face with low snoring indicating he was still sawing logs, Silver was reading several books about the other worlds and what a man could get for his girl in them (He's both a caring boyfriend and a man that knows how much a girl can get mad if he doesn't proves his love with a nice present after being away for a long time, believe me, it's scary), Toadsworth had challenged Naruto to a game of chess as both were bored without much to do… but as for the blonde's luck…

"Checkmate" Toadsworth said for the twenty seventh time as Naruto growled seeing his king being beaten by a peon, the only piece the mushroom person had used in the whole game (No, Naruto isn't stupid, Toadsworth is just that damn good for future, and comedic, purposes).

"Give up, kid" Luigi said with a yawn as he woke up from his slumber, taking the newspaper out of his face "Both me and my brother have challenged good old Toadsworth before, two against one" he began to stretch and smiled at the blond "So don't feel bad, because even if we were two against one he beat us with only one peon and a knight, the latter moved only once"

"Oh, come on, it's not even a fair game if he's that freaking good!" the boy complained loudly as he pointed all the set of black pieces in Toadsworth's possession while said mushroom still had all the whites in his side of the game.

"Well, in my younger days I used to be a professor, and if I didn't uphold my title of a man of wits then I'd be a disgrace for my students" Toadsworth said with a happy smile, but his face turned into confusion when he saw the kid's face of shock.

"For real?" Naruto asked in shock, then slumped his shoulders "Man, you should have told so to my sensei, he was a slacking and perverted old fart that not only tried to seduce women and wrote cheap erotic novels but even stole my money to buy sake for his _dates_… Can you three please stop laughing?" the boy shouted at his three companions who were, as he said, laughing.

Silver wiped a tear out of his eyes "Sorry, Naruto, but imagining you with someone like that… Pffft…" the mobian snorted and soon he laughed a lot more before he regained control upon seeing the kid's angered face "Ok, we're sorry, but come on, admit that a kid like you being trained by someone like Jiraiya is laughable"

Naruto's brain was shut down, before he pressed F5 "Wait, so you know him?"

"Know him? I trained with his master, good old Hiruzen Sarutobi, the man that taught me what I know and gave me some scrolls to practice some real neat stuff" the hedgehog replied with a happy laugh.

The boy's eyes were as wide as platters "Wow, then could you teach me?" he asked in obvious excitement.

"Yeah, it'd be for the best, though it'll have to wait, look out the window" confused by the hedgehog's words the kid did as told, and soon found himself staring at a new world.

-**Pokémon Stadium**-

Upon arrival, Naruto stared wide-eyed at everything in front of him. The area he was currently in was most likely a court yard, there were giant gold statues of people Naruto assumed were very important, and several pillars with flames atop them. But the view outside the windows was what really interested Naruto, there were huge grasslands, forests, giant lakes and even a volcano, plus Naruto could see creatures he had never seen before. And in the middle of all of it stood a gigantic dome with several small stands like in a country fair, he also spotted a hotdog stand as his stomach growled.

All in all, the Keyblade Master could only describe it in three words: "This is awesome!" he said as he ran out of the plane, only to be held by Silver's psychic powers.

"Hold on, Naruto" Silver said as he pulled the kid back with him and the plumber "Listen, we need to be patient and careful when we're in other worlds, otherwise problem will surely come"

The boy nodded in sad agreement "Ok, I understand, but still…"

Silver knew what he was thinking: "Ok, we'll get ourselves some hotdogs on the way, alright?"

Naruto's mood immediately brightened up "Yeah, let's go! I also want to see those creatures!"

"The Pokémon?" Luigi asked.

"The pocket-what?" Naruto asked puzzled.

Silver elaborated "Pokémon are special creatures, with special abilities" he explained as he read a book about the world they were in "Pokémon trainers use the Pokémon to battle against wild or trained Pokémon using strategic moves, they even train them for beauty shows where the battles are not only brutal but flashy with tricks that attract the attention of many, mostly girls" then he mentally added '_Maybe I should get one for Blaze, she does love cutesy things_'

"Wow! I really want to see them now!" Naruto shouted in glee.

"Wait" called Toadsworth's voice from the plane "Before you go, I have to give you this" in the mushroom's hand were three small badges the size of a marble designed to look like a golden mushroom "These here are special cameras that will let me see what you see from the plane's TV, and will also allow us to talk if the need arises for any situation in which I could give you some advice"

"Well, aren't you prepared, huh?" Silver said with a smile as he took one and hid it in his mane of white fur in his chest, making sure it was well hidden but that it could transmit everything he saw to the elder mushroom. Naruto put his in his neck's collar, admiring it as he tried to look cool with it. Luigi simply put it in his overalls' chest pouch where the heart should be.

The elder mushroom chuckled "Well thanks, Master Silver" He then turned serious "Now, Master Naruto, Master Luigi and Master Silver please be careful for I fear what could be in here might be dangerous and the badges will record everything so I can see what you're doing"

The blond smiled "Thanks, Uncle Mushroom"

As the heroes left to the stadium said mushroom mused to himself '_Hmm… Uncle Mushroom, huh? It does have a nice ring to it_'

XXXXXX

After thanking the mushroom and heading their way towards the gigantic stadium, but made a short stop in the hotdog stand nearby. The three sat in a bench finishing their hotdogs while Naruto was amazed by the things all around him, as if it were a dream; he noticed a machine with two pipes that curved up into a TV monitor. Two boys were in front of it talking.

"Hey, I'll trade you my Charmander for your Abra" one of them said.

"Alright, let's trade!"

The two put a ball right below the pipe. The ball had red on the top and white on the bottom. The pipes sucked up the balls. Seconds later, a shadow of two creatures appeared on the monitor and they went to the other side of each other. The two balls fell from the pipes and the young men grabbed them, shook hands and went their separate ways.

"Wow, so these Pokémon can be traded?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah" Silver replied, his book open in one hand as he looked intently at it while he finished eating his chilidog with the other "Many people do it to find one that may suit them better, others just to expand their collection, others to get rare ones that couldn't be found in these regions and some just to make friends-"

The hedgehog was soon cut off when they heard a shout of "WHAT THE?" the heroes looked at a man pointing a finger at them, or more precisely, at Silver, and shouted "That Pokémon is talking! And it can even read while eating chilidogs!" That's when several more Pokémon trainers surrounded the blond, the plumber and the cause of the outburst, the poor and scared grey hedgehog. It wasn't even four seconds before the trio was surrounded by several trainers holding the red and white balls Naruto saw a moment ago.

One asked "Would you trade that Pokémon for my Gyarados?"

Another chided in "Hey, you could exchange it for my Alakazam"

A third pushed his way through and said "No, my Gardevoir is the best of the best, a completely fair trade"

Luckily for the three Luigi was strong enough to hold the whole crowd back as Naruto and him tried to reason with them, Silver being shielded by his two friends and the bench they sat before this ruckus. Naruto spoke up "Listen, first, Silver is not a Pokémon… I think" he turned to the hedgehog who said "No, I'm not" then the blond continued "Ok then, now that that's clarified, even if he was one there is NO way we're going to trade our friend" As they heard the deadly seriousness in the boy's voice (Hey, that rhymes) the crowd soon walked away with disappointment on their faces.

Luigi just chuckled and said to his smaller friend "Wow Silver, I never thought you'd be so popular, there even was a bunch of ladies in that crowd that wanted to pet you" the plumber teased.

Silver blushed but his face also showed fear "Just do me a favor and never, EVER, mention _that_ to Blaze… I don't want her mad again"

Naruto raised an eyebrow and asked "What did you do to her?"

The mobian sighed "I didn't do a thing; a girl simply hugged me mistaking me for another hedgehog… I still can feel the burn marks on my behind after that happened"

Luigi simply said "A woman in love can be a very scary thing when angry" the plumber said and the hedgehog silently nodded.

But Naruto asked, with slight fear, "They can't be that bad, right?"

"Oh, they can" both his friends said in unison.

XXXXXX

Back in Peach's Castle the brunette and feline princesses looked up in the sky. They had been peacefully working and helping all the three kingdoms (Blaze's, Daisy's and Peach's) and thankfully the heartless hadn't even made the minimal attempt to attack them. Not a sign of a bad day could be seen and all around the people were calmly carrying on their daily lives.

Daisy suddenly asked "Blaze, do you feel as if you'd like to clobber your boy for some unknown reason?"

The feline mobian nodded her head "Yeah, for some reason I just feel like doing a great physical harm to Silver, as if he had said something bad about me"

Daisy nodded "My thoughts exactly"

XXXXXX

The group headed indoors to the Stadium. Inside, they noticed a place called the Pokémon Center. The room had computers, a desk with a nurse with pink hair tied in dual ring shaped ponytails and next to her was a pink egg shaped creature. Many people handed the red and white balls to the woman. They walked down a hallway until they approached a large door with the word 'CLOSED' on it. To the left of it, Naruto noticed a man around his middle 40's putting up a sign. He wore a white lab coat, had tan pants, a red shirt, and had short white hair.

"Um, excuse me..." Naruto began to say to the man.

"Oh, excellent timing!" The man said. He was still focused on putting the sign up though "Do you think you can do me a favor? Call your Charizard out and have it move that pedestal over there for me"

"What's a Charizard?" Naruto asked confused.

This made the man cringe in surprise "WHAT'S A CHARIZARD? Ash, have you completely-" The man stopped in mid-sentence when he turned to face Naruto "Oh, wrong guy. Why are you here? Tickets to today's match are sold out"

"What match?" Luigi asked.

"You don't know?" the old man asked as he took a couple of steps towards them "Where do you think you are? This is the world's famous Pokémon Stadium; here trainers come to challenge each other to great Pokémon battles. There is also a new event where heroes from other worlds compete to fight against each other and this world's strongest Pokémon trainers. Many people that come here now are great warriors from other worlds, they don't have any Pokémon, but they still want to compete in the tournament. So, I changed the rules to allow people from other worlds to battle by themselves in the tournaments, provided they have power equal to Pokémon that is and thus the Heroes vs. Pokémon Tournament was born" The old man answered, Naruto grinned excitedly.

"Really... can we enter?" Naruto asked, more like begged.

"Huh?" asked the old man. Then… "You? You want to enter?" he asked in complete disbelief, before laughing his ass off "You... enter... this tournament? Hahahahahahahaha!"

"What's so funny?" Naruto demanded, a fist raised.

The man said, with the most tact he could have while containing his laughter "Well, it's just that you don't seem that tough, I mean, look at you three. One of you is a short kid" said kid was about to hit the man had he not been held by the plumber while the man in the lab coat continued "Then there's a midget armed with a cheap vacuum" now the plumber felt _very_ tempted to let the blond pummel the elder to a pulp "And there's a big rat as your last teammate"

"I'm a hedgehog!" the mobian shouted as he and all of his kind hated being confused with rats.

"Hey, I'm the Keyblade master and I've fought lots of monsters, and these guys are just as tough as me!" Naruto insisted as he calmed down.

"Yeah, you nerd, we're plenty strong!" Silver said angrily.

"Naruto is really strong, and he's the hero chosen by the Keyblade" Luigi said once he let go of the blond and patted the kid's back.

"And we're heroes too!" Silver added.

"A hero and strong? That runt?" the lab man exclaimed. He then broke into laughter once again.

"What's that suppose to mean?" the blond asked angrily "I fought a bunch of monsters!"

The man then walked over to the pedestal that he asked Naruto to push "Listen, if you can't even move this" He then tried to push the pedestal and struggled "You...can't...call...yourself...a hero!" He fell down and Naruto's group started laughing. He breathed heavily and stood up, wiping his forehead "Well, I guess it takes more than just strength to do it. I'll tell you what; let me see what you can do. By the way, my name is professor Oak, a Pokémon researcher, what're yours?"

"Naruto"

"Silver"

"Luigi"

"We're the Great Ramen Team" Naruto said, gaining blank looks from his companions and the Pokémon researcher "What? It's this cool name I came up with, you like it?" he asked upon seeing those blank stares.

"I'd work on it" Silver said, Luigi and Oak nodded in agreement.

"Well, let's get going" Oak said, leading the group into the arena, which was an entire square field with a smaller square area in which the fights probably took place in the centre, and stands at the left and right sides of the arena. "Cool, isn't it?" asked Oak "Now, each of you will have to go through a mini-game of my choice. If you win, I'll admit you're good enough to enter the tournament. If not, then it only proves my point. And in case you're wondering, you have to do the games separately"

"Oh... ok then" Naruto said somewhat nervously.

"We'll start with you" Oak said, pointing to Luigi.

"Mamma-mia" Luigi mumbled, gulped hard and entered the arena.

"Your game shall be...sumo wrestling with Snorlax!" Oak said as he put a hand in his coat pocket and took a smaller version of the red and white balls, then he pressed a button that somehow made it expand itself, before throwing it in the arena. What happened next left Naruto gob-smacked when a red light appeared from the sphere when it opened and took form, color and shape. Now Luigi faced what looked like a blue bear with big feet and no legs, a enormous, emphasis on 'enormous', stomach with a beige belly and its eyes seemed to be permanently closed.

"That thing's huge!" shouted the blond in amazement, then eyed the researcher "How do you expect Luigi to win against something that not only is like five times his size but definitely weights ten times more than him?" he asked at the old man, really worried about what might happen to his small friend.

"Oh I don't expect any of you to win, I just wanted to have some fun while teaching the three of you not to underestimate Pokémon" the man said nonchalantly with no amount of shame, making the three heroes glare at him.

"You sadistic son of a…" Silver started to say, but decided to save his anger for later and watch his friend.

"Come on Luigi, prove this nerd wrong! You're strong enough to send that bear flying with one punch!" the blond shouted, cheering for his green clad friend.

Suddenly Luigi felt calm, it did feel nice when someone cheered for you. He didn't like it much because he never liked to fight, even when his brother told him he had the most potential of the two Luigi felt he wasn't the hero type, unlike his brave small big brother. But hearing Naruto say he was strong made him grip his fist tighter and face the Snorlax... with shaky legs.

"Ok, the rules of this game are simple, the firs to throw the other out of the rings wins. No weapons, techniques, or special powers are allowed, only brute force" Oak explained as he took a red flag from thin air and waved it "Ready… go!"

Just as the professor said those words the gigantic bear-like Pokémon charged at the midget. Luigi raised his fists and brought a solid straight punch at the big creature's gut, making it fall back. Luigi started to deliver more and more punches, jabs, uppercuts, you name it. The plumber didn't stop fearing that his enormous enemy would attack any second now. Once he grew tired he looked up at the Snorlax, who looked at the plumber for a second with its always closed eyes, before falling on its back out of the ring, knocked out cold.

"Ok, what just happened?" the stunned plumber asked.

"No way…" Oak said, then shook his head and sighed "Though it ain't that much of a surprise, Snorlax is a normal type of Pokémon, meaning he's weak against fighting type of Pokémon, your kind of attacks were one of his weaknesses" the researcher explained at the plumber who walked back with the now shocked blond and hedgehog, both unable to believe their friend won so easily.

"Well, talk about a lucky shot" the hedgehog said, then smirked proudly at the old man "Guess you're the one underestimating us, huh?"

A vein popped in the professor's head and he said with a forced smile "Oh, thanks for volunteering" he then shoved the mobian, making him stumble while Luigi exited the arena "Your torture- err, mini-game shall be…meh, what the heck? Just try to avoid getting send to another continent" the man said without a care in the world and threw another ball. From it a gigantic blue tortoise standing on its two feet and having what seemed like a white cannon on each shoulder of its brown shell appeared.

The sight of his opponent made Silver worry, especially by what he heard "What did you mean 'try to avoid getting send to another continent', old man?" he asked, but immediately got his answer when the enormous tortoise shot a powerful torrent of water directed at the psychic mobian.

Silver ran around avoiding the heavy blasts of water, which were strong enough to take out several pieces of the ground upon impact. Up and down, right and left, the poor hedgehog avoided the torrents that the tortoise shot from his cannons, trying to either crush him under the sheer pressure of the highly condensed water blasts or, as Oak said, send him to another continent with a direct hit. As he ran the hedgehog mentally cursed a researcher and his sadistic ways to prove someone wrong, a hyperactive blond that gets him in trouble and a crazily powerful turtle that could rip his head off with a water blast.

"Come on, Silver! You can't win only by running away! You have to fight back, show him who the man- err, hedgehog is!" the blond cheered.

While the cheer was rather sad, Silver got an idea from it. In one jump he skidded to a stop until he now faced the water Pokémon, the hedgehog's right hand glowed with a green light as he channeled his psychic energy. Once the Pokémon saw him stopping it aimed its enormous cannons before shooting another blast of water from both, Silver saw it coming and swung his right hand in front of him, sending a wave of psychic energy against the highly condensed water shots.

The result was so fast that the spectators only saw the green energy colliding against the water, before the blasts were splattered all around in a small rain before the wave of green energy hit the tortoise right on its chest, before it was sent flying out of the arena, laying unconscious on its shell.

"How's that for a blast, huh?" the grey hedgehog said in tired pants with a small smirk as he exited the arena.

"Yeah! Great job, Silver!" Naruto cheered.

"Impossible, Blastoise was defeated with just one hit?" Oak asked himself in disbelief, he then eyed Naruto "Well kid, let's see what you're made of…" the man said before noticing Naruto was already standing on the arena, his Keyblade ready to take on any enemy "Well, talk about impatient"

"Just give me your best shot and I'll take it down no sweat" the blond said with a smug grin all over his face.

Three veins appeared on Oak's head, and the two small heroes stepped away from the man as he said in barely contained anger "My best shot, huh?" he growled as he couldn't believe these guys were so lucky, so he decided to go all out to prove his point "Well, I was going to use Charizard, but since you want to go seriously so will I" Now Naruto suddenly felt nervous as the man took out another ball, and from it an orange dragon appeared, a cute looking one at that.

"What the?" the kid asked in disbelief and then turned to the researcher "Are you kidding me? This guy is way too cute to even look intimidating! Heck, I highly doubt it could even hurt a fly just by looking at its face!" the statement made the dragon blush and scratch the back of its head with one of its claws as it smiled sheepishly.

Oak sweat-dropped at the dragon's reaction to Naruto's statement but shook his head off those thoughts and said "Dragonite, this kid is your opponent, have no mercy" with that, Dragonite was the first to attack, flying at Naruto with great speed and head-butting him straight right in the gut.

Naruto managed to get up in shaky legs after recovering his breath '_Damn, that hurt_' he thought as he stood up and charged at the Pokémon with his Keyblade, the dragon countered Naruto's strikes with swipes of its claws and soon the two exchanged slash after slash. The blond tried hard to keep going, feeling his energies leave him as his opponent was not only insanely strong but also very fast. When Naruto stopped to take a quick breather Dragonite did something that certainly surprised him, the dragon opened its mouth and from it he fired an orange beam of energy right at the Keyblade Master, Naruto barely managed to dodge the blast, which created a large smoking crater in the ground.

"Ok, I stand corrected" the blond said as he kept on jumping out of the beams' way.

Naruto jumped out of the way of Dragonite's continuous hyper-beam attacks, now the dragon chose to use those energy beams constantly, keeping the young swordsman at bay with their destructive power. Yet the boy noticed the dragon seemed to be slightly exhausted when it used this attack, the Pokémon also needed to recharge them and for the time it took him he has to use a lot of energy. Realizing his advantage at last, Naruto smirked and decided to taunt the Pokémon.

"Ha, missed again. I bet you couldn't hit a barn's wall even if it were two feet in front of your face" Naruto mocked the Dragonite, who now was furious.

In its anger, Dragonite repeatedly sent hyper beams at Naruto, despite the energy it cost. Naruto dodged each one, though it kept getting harder and one actually scraped his shoulder. After trapping Naruto at a corner, Dragonite prepared a hyper beam, but to no avail. Dragonite continued to build power in its mouth, but the beam dispersed before it could be fired. While Dragonite was distracted by its sudden loss of power Naruto jumped over the dragon's head with the Keyblade held high before he swiped at its head with the humongous key, knocking the dragon to the ground.

Dragonite attempted to pull itself up, but it was already low on energy and fainted.

"Alright, I did it!" Naruto cheered for himself, Silver and Luigi clapped so fast it sounded like an entire audience was clapping.

"What?" Oak exclaimed. Professor Oak was in deep shock; he'd never expected Naruto to win. Also, not much people would taunt a Dragonite, they were friendly Pokémon but were very nasty when angered, taunting them seemed like a death sentence, yet Naruto did just that and won "You beat another one of my strongest Pokémon? You're unbelievable!" The group returned outside with Naruto feeling proud of himself, they all headed back to the lobby "Well, you're not bad. As a matter of fact, you are very good, Naruto"

"Ha! Thanks!" the blond laughed rubbing his head "Looks like we're heading into the games"

"Sorry, no" Oak said in a sing-song tone.

"What?" Naruto shouted.

"How come?" Silver added angrily.

"Listen, just because you passed those mini-games doesn't mean I'm letting you frolic your way into the games!" Oak answered "I said that I'd see what you could do, not that I'd let you in the games"

"Come on!" Naruto whined.

"Please?" Luigi begged.

"I said no and that's my final answer! You three are really getting in the way! I have things to do!" Oak angrily said and cupped a hand around his mouth "Officer Jenny!" As he called for the officer a young police woman with light green-bluish hair, a dark blue uniform with a dress walked over to the group "Would you please escort these three out of this building?"

"Yes sir!" Jenny said giving a salute to Oak. She then pushed Naruto and his group out of the area "Okay you three, the show is over, go home!"

"Wait!" Naruto said pushing back. Seconds later, Jenny shoved Naruto out the door; he landed hard on his face "Why is it always the face?" he asked himself as he rose to his feet, just when Jenny threw the rest of the group and both Silver and Luigi fell on top of him.

"This is becoming a bit of a bad habit" the plumber said as he and the hedgehog got up from the kid and helped him stand up, the blond simply gave them a look that said 'You think?'.

"That lady has one heck of a throw" the mobian commented as he rubbed his aching back "And a very good roundhouse kick" he added when he cracked his backbones.

"That's just our luck" Naruto moaned as they walked back to the plane.

"Hey, maybe we could try again next time" Luigi said hopefully.

"We won't be able to enter next time either, we need to find your brother and Naruto's friends, we can't stay here until the next tournament starts" the psychic mobian explained, though he too was disappointed with this fact.

"Let's stick around and watch the tournament, maybe we can ask the people who show up if they've seen Mario, Hinata or Satsuki" Naruto suggested.

"We can ask, but we can't watch. It's sold out, remember?" Silver reminded Naruto, the trio sighed.

"So, you three want to enter the tournament, don't you?" Came a fourth voice, the trio turned to see a man in an orange business suit "Well, I guess that lab geek is it a bit stubborn, wouldn't you say?"

"Who are you?" Silver asked.

"My name's Giovanni, and after what I saw back there I'd be incredibly disappointed if I didn't see you three in action" Giovanni answered back with a sinister smirk "So you want to enter the Stadium games, right? Well, I believe I have a way of getting you in" Giovanni said as he went through his pocket. He then pulled out a pass and handed it to Naruto.

"You're giving this to us?" the boy asked in surprise.

"Yes, consider it a gift, it's just my way of helping the community, that's just the sort of guy I am" he said turning and leaving, not letting the now excited trio see his evil smile '_Everything's going so smoothly_'

XXXXXX

Back at the Coliseum, Oak was putting the finishing touches on his rule list and stepped off the platform wiping his forehead "Finally, I'm done!" He then turned noticing our heroes standing right before him. "Oh no! Not again!" He groaned "I guess getting the boot by Officer Jenny didn't help, but now I'm going to band you from entering a working area. Officer Jenny's!"

Suddenly the trio was surrounded by the same policewoman that threw them out, but now there was a whole army made of the same policewoman. Amazed, Silver said "Talk about a big family" Unable to think of something else the blond nodded as he stood still but ready in case he was shoved out of the door again.

"Wait a minute; you can't throw us this time!" Luigi said, gaining everyone's attention "Check this out!" the plumber then held the pass they were given and soon the army of Jenny's left them alone when the researcher took the slip of paper and inspected it, proving it to be the real deal.

"Well, I'll be, you guys can enter the games after all!" said the lab man as he held the pass with shock on his face. Then he asked "Have you guys got a name for your team?"

"Yeah, we're Team Maelstrom!" Naruto shouted, and unlike the last time he got several surprised faces looking at him "What is it? You don't like it?" he asked as he felt really odd without the blank stares instead of this sort of amazement on the two small heroes' faces.

"Actually, it's a really cool and awesome name" Silver answered and added "It's just that we never thought you'd have enough brain capacity to come up with something like that"

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" asked an angry blond after another of Silver's half-compliments.

"Ok, stop fighting between yourselves and get ready for the fights against the other fighters and Pokémon trainers" Oak said as he stood between the two so no blood was drawn before the matches. Then he sighed heavily "But I would like to start you off slow, so you'll be entering the Preliminary cup."

"We're up for the challenge!" Naruto proudly said with a thumb up. The three made their way towards the arena, where a crowd cheered them as they came out onto the arena, which had been changed after their little 'games'. The bottom of the arena was made of simple earth and in the center it looked like a round white ball was on the ground.

"Wow, look at all the people out here" Naruto said looking around as several persons were cheering, some people getting some snacks and others holding several video cameras.

"What do you think, fellas? Can we really do it?" Luigi asked, he was a bit nervous but gripping his fists to gain some confidence.

"Of course we can!" the blond said with confidence "If we work together, we'll kick some serious butt!"

And as he said that a man that seemed to be the referee walked in holding up a green and a red flags "May both opponents enter the ring!" The man announced and the heroes did just that, only to feel their blood being drained from their faces; on the other side of the ring shadows and soldier heartless ran into the arena along with a new one that seemed like a combination of a sumo wrestler and a soldier heartless with a purple suit that barely contained its oversized stomach and shackles on its wrists, this was a Large Body.

"Heartless? How did they got here?" Silver asked in shock, then, after a small pause, smacked his forehead and said in a matter-of-factly tone "Oh right, the Keyblade"

Luigi nodded as he understood what that meant "Well kid, it looks like the heartless entered to get a piece of you." he said to Naruto.

"No problem!" Naruto smirked while getting his Keyblade out "We can take them! Let's do it!"

"Let the match between Team Maelstrom and Team Heavy begin!" The man announced.

Naruto instantly summoned four clones and he joined them in battling several heartless at the same time. Whenever a shadow or a soldier tried to claw him or hit him with a spinning kick the clones and the real one would work together to slash at all and every attack coming their way, making the heartless back off rather violently until they were wide open for a one hit kill.

"I'm really starting to get better at this" the boy smirked in pride.

Silver saw one of the soldiers try to spin kick him, but he simply tossed him a trash can that was nearby in the stadium with his telekinesis and sent the heartless flying against another bunch, knocking them out like pins in a bowling game. But he wasn't going to give them a chance to get back up, so his hands flew through hand signs before he stopped in one and made a ring with his fingers that he held near his mouth while reeling his head back and inhaling. What Naruto saw next left him wide-eyed when Silver shot his head forward and ejected a jet of flames from his mouth at the heartless, completely incinerating them.

"I seriously need to learn that" Naruto said in awe.

"I told you, I'll teach you when this is over" Silver said with a smirk, then with a sheepish smile "Though I'd like not to be called 'sensei', it'd make me feel old" The boy snickered but nodded an affirmative and both him and the mobian charged against another wave of enemies.

Luigi was doing perfectly fine, a soldier approached him and tried to claw the plumber, but the small man simply ducked and then slammed his fist in its helmet with a powerful uppercut, breaking the helmet and eliminating the heartless instantly. His tactics consisted more in decapitating hooks, lightning jabs with his left, explosive straight punches with his right and demolishing uppercuts that exterminated the critters one by one.

"Woo-hoo! I'm on a roll today!" the plumber said in excitement, then noticed the Large Body "You're going down, ugly!" he shouted as he charged at it, his fist reeled back… only for the plumber to crush it painfully against the heartless' steel like stomach "Yeow!" Luigi yelped painfully as he fell on his butt, holding his fist in pain.

Naruto heard the yelp of pain and charged to save his friend, his clones right beside him. But when he and the clones slashed at the big heartless their blades simply bounced off his stomach's steel skin, making the five Naruto's step back from the failed impact, giving the Large Body the perfect chance to slap them with one of its massive hands. The clones poofed out of existence and the real Naruto skidded on his back five yards from where Luigi was.

The grey hedgehog saw the pinch his friends were in and lifted four trash cans that were with the crowd with his telekinesis and threw them at the monster, only for the cans to be crushed like cheap pieces of metal. Fortunately the distraction gave the two downed heroes the chance to get away. Unfortunately the Large Body was angry and it charged at Silver with its round stomach, the hedgehog tossed every object inside the stadium at the critter, from rocks, food (which received several angry shouts from the crowd) and even more trash cans, only for them to be crushed upon impact.

Just when the mobian was about to be crashed Naruto charged at the Large Body and jumped, his Keyblade ready to chop its head. The monster was hit, but the slash wasn't enough to kill it, all it did was make the critter stumble a bit backwards. The blond landed behind the monster, and when he saw the enormous creature stumbling back, going to crush him with its behind, the kid acted without even thinking and kicked its back, hoping to gain some distance between him and the creature. However he was shocked when he noticed that the kick alone not only made the heartless stumble forward, but it also seemed to have harmed him if the look of pain on its face was anything to go by.

The heartless was now angry, and in a split second turned around and faced the blond, before charging its massive body against the kid. Naruto was too surprised by the sudden attack to even think a good strategy, until Luigi appeared and stopped the giant with his two hands.

The Large Body noticed the small man stopping its charge and reared back his hand to smack him, but with a shout of "Oh no, you don't!" the plumber let go of the heartless and stopped its hands, both now in a power struggle, trying to push the other back "Silver, kid! Do something and fast, I can't hold this guy forever!" the plumber shouted as he tried to keep the monster at bay.

With a quick nod Silver's hands flew through more hand signs as Naruto ran around the heartless and summoned two more clones. The hedgehog finished when the plumber had to let go of the giant and stepped back, in Silver's hand was a lightning bolt chirping, Naruto was held by his two clones in a throwing position. Once Luigi was out of harming range Silver swatted his hand and a lightning arrow was shot at the heartless' head, Naruto's clones launched the blond right at the giant's back. In one second the heartless got a face full of lightning and violently fell back, only to be pierced by the Keyblade.

Once the Large Body was gone the trio reunited themselves, proud smirks all over their faces as Naruto said "We're bad"

Silver smirked "We're bad"

Luigi nodded "We're bad"

The three then simultaneously high fived each other with their smirks still plastered all over their faces. It wasn't very long before the whole crowd exploded in cheers.

XXXXXX

"That wasn't half bad, but you're nowhere near as good as Ash" Oak told the trio during the intermission between the previous round and the next round.

"Who's Ash?" Luigi asked.

"He's a Pokémon trainer, one of the best in the world, there's even a statue of him in the courtyard. He's quite famous around here" Oak said proudly "I was the one who gave him his first Pokémon and his pokedex"

"You must be proud of him" Silver said and Oak nodded with a very big grin of pride.

"You bet I am. And you never know, if you compete again you might get the chance to battle him" Oak said excitedly.

"Why isn't he in this tournament then?" Naruto asked, not noticing the name Ash on the list of contestants.

"He's visiting his mother at the moment. Pity, he loves Pokémon battles. You should meet him, he's a very nice boy" Oak said.

"Yeah, I bet it'll be fun to fight him" the blond said, then looked at the matches "Who's our next opponent?" he asked, trying to stay focused on his team's match.

"Your opponent will be…" Oak started to say, then took notice of another boy walking by to fight his own match.

The group looked at him, Naruto more than anyone as he locked eyes with the warrior. The boy looked only a few years older than Naruto, he had white, grey tinted pupil-less eyes like Hinata, long brown hair tied in the tip with a white lace and stood a foot taller than Naruto. He wore navy blue shorts and a white long-sleeved jacket with a high collar, a pair of black ninja sandals, bandages acting as leg warmers, and he carried a seemingly permanent frown on his face.

"Who's that?" Naruto finally asked when the boy entered the ring.

"His name is Neji, all I know is that he's really strong" Oak answered "Who knows? You might fight him, but right now your opponent will be Natalie, a black belt in karate and a fighting Pokémon lover"

XXXXXX

Natalie was a teenager girl with short black hair and a karate outfit with the black belt holding the Poke-balls.

"Get ready for a beating!" the girl said confidently.

"Sorry, but I'm going to win this tournament" the ninja said equally confidently.

"That's good to hear" she said, then winked at them and threw two balls "Hitmonchan, Hitmonlee, I choose you!" she shouted as a brown humanoid boxer looking creature glared at them with its red boxing gloves for hands ready while another brown humanoid creature with springs on its legs and no head, with its eyes on its torso, appeared "Hope you can keep up" the girl said with her confidence still high.

"Let the match between Team Maelstrom and fighter Natalie begin!" The referee announced.

"Hitmonchan, use focus punch on the blond, Hitmonlee, use a fire kick against the other two" the fighter girl called, the boxer like Pokémon did as instructed and sent a quick punch to the Naruto. The blond raised his blade in hopes of stopping the attack, but instead it ended sending him flying back a few feet, before he had to avoid a blur of punches from the Hitmonchan. The Hitmonlee's leg was engulfed by fierce flames before he launched itself against the small duo to brunt them to a crisp with its attack, luckily Luigi managed to avoid the kick by jumping high in the air while Silver lifted himself with his telekinesis. Now the trio's fights were decided

Hitmonchan faced Naruto and glared, Naruto glared back intensely "Use dynamic punch" Natalie called, the fighting Pokémon aimed a punch at Naruto, who avoided it, spun on his right toe and struck over the head with the Keyblade, knocking him to the ground. But the Hitmonchan put a foot forward to stop his fall, before delivering an uppercut that knocked the blond down. "Now, get up and throw him out of the arena" the karate girl instructed and her boxer got up and attempted to pick Naruto up, but he disappeared in a puff of smoke. The Pokémon stared shocked around before being kicked by five Naruto's as the blond had clearly used the shadow clone technique. The boxer was still confused, and the girl was too unsure to command it, which gave the squad of Naruto's plenty of time to knock him out.

Meanwhile, Luigi and Silver were fighting as professionals, literally in Luigi's case, who stood his ground while countering each of Hitmonlee's kicks with a punch of his own, trading blow after blow but without hurting each other as each fist and foot collided against one another as they really didn't want to know how hard the other could hit. Silver stood thoughtfully on the side lines while Luigi held the headless kicker down, and soon thought what a good way to beat a relentless fighter was. '_Hmm... maybe a freezing attack could _cool_ it down_' he thought hopefully then shouted to his green clad friend "Luigi, hold that thing so I can get a good shot at it" Luigi did as instructed and when the Hitmonlee gave him a quick kick he grabbed onto its leg, holding it with his two arms in a tight hug and making sure that Hitmonlee was facing the grey hedgehog, who after flashing several hand signs reeled his head back and from his mouth shot it with a freezing wind. The kicker Pokémon became trapped in a block of ice and was unable to battle further.

"And the winners are Team Maelstrom" the referee announced.

"Good job, you two" Natalie said to her Pokémon as she called them back in their Poke-balls, she then turned to the winners and said with a smile "Well, that was fun. I hope I get to fight you in the near future, both myself and my Pokémon"

Naruto smiled and said "Yeah, I be it will be fun, but don't expect any mercy from us" he added the last part with a proud smirk.

"Hey, that makes it better" the girl said and shook hands with him.

XXXXXX

Sadly, unknown to our heroes, a lone figure stood surrounded by others, smiling as it saw the boy being a good and fighter. With a proud whisper it said "You're doing more than great... even more than your father... Naruto, my son"


	6. Chapter 6

**I OWN NOTHING, only one heck of a crazy mind… and an awesome recipe for tomato sauce that goes great with any kind of Italian food**

**XXXXXX**

Strong will, big spirit, sore loser

We find Neji, leaning on a wall, at his side was Giovanni, having a frown on his face while looking at our trio of small heroes shaking hands with Natalie. He then turned to the teen "So, remember that kid and his friends, I need you to kill them" The man instructed.

"Why should I?" The teen asked.

"Look, I know your contract states you're only supposed to kill Ketchum, but I need you to kill the brat too" Giovanni explained.

"Am I to assume that the infamous Giovanni, the leader of Team Rocket, is afraid of a kid?" Neji asked in a monotone.

Giovanni then smirked "Look Neji, you need to do as I say, otherwise I won't help you find that killer of yours, that one smiling man that took your father because of your uncle's foolishness" Neji gritted his teeth in anger as the man in the suit smirked even more "With my connections I could find him in a heartbeat, but you have to kill that kid first" Giovanni pointed to the orange pants wearing boy "You do just that and soon you'll be able to get to the real killer of your father, the one that used your family's curse for his benefit"

The teen simply sighed "Alright, I'll do it" but before leaving, Giovanni heard a loud crash behind him, and slowly turning his head he saw in fear Neji's palm imprinted on the wall "But do remember, I don't like people like you, too nosy. So once this is done, you better get me to him, or I'll make sure you wish to never have found any info about my family"

Once Neji left Giovanni composed himself… only to glare at the boy with a furious face "That brat!" he growled in anger, then took a deep breath to calm down before turning to the shadows "He is so into revenge that it's kind of cute how he'd do anything, but he's really stiff… Still, it's hard to find fools as strong as him" and from the shadows three pairs of eyes shone while their owners giggled.

XXXXXX

(VERY IMPORTANT: This fight will be based in the Chunin exam fights, yet I suggest you to read it whole because you'll see VERY important elements to this story and the plot, such as what happened before Hinata arrived at the island, who is Neji looking for, and a slight clue as to who is Naruto's mother)

Naruto stood in the arena, and once he saw Neji he talked to his two small friends "Hey guys, before we even begin to fight I'd like to ask this guy something"

Silver raised an eyebrow "Seriously?"

Nodding Naruto explained "Yeah, I think he may be related to Hinata because both have the same eyes, so maybe he might know where she is, and with any luck maybe even where Satsuki is"

Luigi nodded feeling a bit lucky "And he might even tell us where my brother is, or at least where he is heading to"

Silver sighed with his arms crossed and voiced his thoughts "It's a very unlikely coincidence… but it might be our only clue"

Smiling, the boy walked towards the teen "Hey, I don't know how to say this, but, do you by any chance know about a girl named Hinata Hyuuga?"

However, much to the whiskered boy's surprise, Neji sneered and put a hand into a brown headband that Naruto didn't see before. With his sneer Neji replied with an angry tone "And how do you even know that weakling of a failure?"

Now it was Naruto the one sneering "What did you say?" he asked angry with his Keyblade now ready "Don't you dare to talk like that about her!" Silver and Luigi also thought the same, because the hedgehog had a palm ready with psychic energy while the plumber gripped his fists tighter than usual.

"What're you gonna do about it?" Neji asked, getting into a fighting stance with both open palms at his side and his legs opened.

"This!" Naruto shouted, charging at Neji and attempting to stab him with the Keyblade, though Neji easily slapped the blade aside. Naruto sent several swift strikes at Neji, but he still slapped them aside without too much effort. Luigi soon joined Naruto and sent a barrage of punches at the teen, Silver soon started to go through hand signs. But when Neji noticed this he simply slid, grabbed Naruto's wrist and spun on his heels, swinging the blonde around, thus hitting the plumber, before launching them both against the mobian, who couldn't dodge the hit as he was still in the middle of another hand sign.

The three landed hard, and deciding to get serious Naruto rose to his feet and charged, he sent a well aimed jab at Neji's head with the Keyblade, but the teen blocked it with a chakra infused palm, shocking the blond… but soon the shocked one was Neji when he was hit square in the chest by Naruto's fist. Neji jumped back a bit and got back into his stance, Naruto then charged once again, but Neji skidded below the blade's reach and struck the blonde in the stomach with a double palm strike, causing him to fall to his knees in pain.

"Had enough?" Neji asked, enjoying the pleasure of pushing Naruto around.

"You're kidding? I'm just getting started!" Naruto said with a grin, he pounced at Neji and soon Keyblade and chakra infused palms collided. Neji easily gained the advantage, until Naruto tripped him over. The teen was confused as to why did Naruto not attack next, until a white glove holding a fist hit him right on his chin, before a wave of green energy pushed him back. Then, from behind, two Naruto's charged at him and slashed at his back, sending him flying farther away.

Neji regained his balance midair and skidded to a stop, then he actually grinned "You guys are not half bad. Of course, I am going way too easy on you three, so you're probably not that good"

"Yeah, well, we're not fighting at full strength either" Silver lied, and bitterly thought '_Damn, I was sure that uppercut would have knocked down one of those Snorlax and my psychic wave was one of my strongest… but this guy is still standing. He sure is strong_'

Neji charged at our heroes, who, knowing what was going to happen, jumped aside, before attacking from all sides. The clones sneaked behind the teen to get a better shot while the three heroes charged and simultaneously, Naruto dashed forwards to deliver a powerful slash, Luigi this time sent a heavy kick and Silver had an energy wave ready… only for them to fall once Neji spun on his heels towards them and sent precise palm strikes at them with enough strength to knock them down.

The two clones saw the teen not looking at them as they were behind him, and took the chance to attack. However, when the clones attempted to strike Neji from behind they were sent flying like the trio did before, then disappeared in puffs of smoke.

Silver was shocked by this "H-how did he?" but then took a closer look at Neji's eyes and saw that tiny veins had popped out around the teen's eyes, he assumed this was an effect of whatever trick he used to know the clones would attack his back.

"Byakugan" Naruto stated "It's a special technique that gives greatly increased eyesight to its user" but he only meant one thing '_He IS related to Hinata_' he thought but grinned confidently "Well, he's still not gonna beat me" the blonde said firmly, as he and the others charged once again, sending several more attacks at Neji, until one of could actually hit him.

"Wow, you might actually be a bit good" said Neji with a smug smirk, Naruto furiously continued his attack, while Neji also began attacking. The teen was a lot better at landing hits on the whiskered boy and his two small friends, three out of five of his strikes made contact with Naruto while the other two were aimed at the plumber or the hedgehog, the three were now feeling a bit shaky.

"Had enough now?" Neji asked, becoming slightly annoyed with their determination.

"NEVER!" Naruto yelled back.

Naruto charged forward at Neji with Luigi jumping high in the air with his foot ready to slam the teen while Silver charged as his hands went flying through hand signs, Neji just struck back as hard as he could. What happened next was too quick to see, and so was a mystery. The only thing that was for sure was that the next moment, Naruto and Neji were both on their knees with tired faces... but Luigi and Silver had taken enough damage and their bodies soon fell down.

"Luigi, Silver!" Naruto exclaimed as he tried to force himself up, just as Neji did too.

"We… we're fine, kid" panted a very tired plumber "Go get him, we'll be back with ya in a second!" he shouted while trying to make his body move… yet for some reason he couldn't.

Silver also cheered for the blonde "Naruto, give him one hard beat down while we get up!" yet he was bitterly thinking '_Move, body, move!_'

"Futile" Neji stated while looking smugly at the two downed heroes "I've injected my own chakra into your bodies, cutting and redirecting your chakra points so you can't bother me while I beat this punk"

"Then I'll make you pay" shouted the angry blonde, gritting his teeth at the smug teen.

Said pale eyed boy chuckled "You want to save your friends, huh?" Neji asked in a mocking tone "I don't think that's gonna happen… I can pretty much tell with these eyes of mine… The abilities and talent are determined at birth. In other words, your entire destiny is set from the time you're born"

"Why are you so stubborn?" Naruto shouted in anger "You act sure that the future is full of doom and gloom… Why? People can always do anything by putting all their efforts into what they want without giving up! You can't make any assumption about what will happen because everyone can decide what they want to do!"

Neji stared at him angrily and sighed "Are you saying anyone can make whatever dream they have a reality? If they just try hard enough? Only a select few people are even capable of having a great power. Wake up and face reality! Those who will get power to do what they want are born with that fate. You can't get it by trying… you have to be pre-selected. Each person's life consists only of being swept along in the inescapable current of destiny. All of us… have only one thing in common… One shared fate… death" He finished in a depressed voice.

Luigi grumbled "This kid needs a girlfriend"

"Well… So what?" Naruto asked as he made an army of clones "I guess I'm just a sore loser!" Now Neji was surrounded by Naruto clones.

"I'm not an idiot, you know… I've seen through your pattern of attack already"

"I told you! You shouldn't make any assumptions about the future!" Naruto shouted as all his clone converged on the teen. Punches, kicks and slashes came from everywhere… but no hits landed on Neji. He merely jumped and dodged all attacks sent his way. Then he dashed through the crowd of blond ninjas, searching for the real one. Then he caught sight on one that was staying back.

'_There you are…_' Neji thought as he dashed towards the one staying in the back. Before he had a chance to counter, Neji slammed his palm into Naruto's stomach, causing all the other clones to disappear. Naruto coughed up blood and stumbled backwards.

"Oh no! Naruto!" Silver shouted as he watched his friend in such a bad state.

"The one who is afraid to get hurt and stays in the back… Is the real one…" Neji said, triumphantly. But Naruto started to chuckle, confusing Neji.

"I-I told you already…" Naruto gasped with a grin "D-don't make assumptions so much…" And he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"What?" Neji growled as two other Naruto's appeared behind him, with Keyblade ready in hand.

"YEAH NARUTO!" Luigi, Silver… and even the whole crowd cheered. But everybody's cheers were cut short when Neji started rotating, with chakra surrounding him. Naruto's blade strikes stopped dead in their tracks as they made contact with the protective chakra shield. Then Naruto and his clone were sent flying. Naruto skidded across the ground and his clone disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"You thought you had me beat?" Neji asked as the smoke cleared "That's my defense…" he said with a smirk "The vision range of the Byakugan is almost a full 360 degrees. In other words, I can practically see a full circle around me. And with this all-seeing eye, I can anticipate all of my opponent's attacks. This is the Eight Trigrams Palm Rotation… The instant before an attack reaches me, large amounts of chakra from chakra points all over my body will halt your attack with a cocoon of chakra... You could consider it the absolute defense" Neji finished in triumph.

Luigi grumbled again "And it also makes its user a very modest person" he said with sarcasm dripping from every syllable.

Naruto simply struggled to his feet. He looked and saw Neji, dropping into a different stance.

"You're finished… you're within the boundaries of my eight trigrams. Gentle Fist, Eight Trigrams, 64 Palms!" Neji leapt forward and sent a barrage of strikes all over Naruto's body "Eight Trigrams, Two Palms! Four Palms! Eight Palms! 16 Palms! 36 Palms! Eight Trigrams, 64 Palms!" Naruto cried in pain as his body was riddled with blocked chakra points. His legs, his arms, his face and torso were among the places the strikes landed. Not having any strength left the blonde fell backwards and landed with a thud.

"Naruto!" Luigi and Silver cried at the sight of their friend lying on his back in a pain obviously worse than theirs.

Neji smiled "I've blocked 64 points around your body, you can no longer even stand" Then he started snickering "It must be frustrating. Here, on your knees before my immutable strength. You must finally comprehend your own powerlessness. Believing that your dreams will come true if you try hard enough… Is simply a fantasy" But that didn't stop Naruto. To Neji's, and the entire audiences' shock, Naruto struggled to his feet, not giving up. He looked up and glared at the Hyuuga.

"I told you… I'm a sore loser…" He grunted, trying to fight back the pain.

"Listen…" Neji began in a sincere voice "Just give up, all right? If you keep going, it'll only be more of the same. And I don't have any grudge against you, so…"

"Shut up!" Naruto shouted, interrupting Neji "I…I do, all right?"

Neji didn't understand "What the hell are you talking about?"

"I…I mean… you're so strong, and you act… like you know everything… And when you were up against me and my friends before getting serious, who were fighting so hard… You just tried to put us down with those stupid mind-games! But, worst of all, you insulted Hinata, the most innocent person I've ever met and one of my best friends!"

Neji's expression hardened "That's none of your business…" He growled.

But Naruto continued "You mocked her! Called her a failure and claimed you could see your beloved fate! I don't know anything about your stuff… But I can never forgive a jerk who goes around calling people failures, and much less one of the two persons that make me the happiest person in this universe! Hinata and Satsuki have always been there for me and none of us would let another feel sad, down or alone! So I want to ask you, what the hell gives you the right to insult her?"

Silver and Luigi shared the same thought: '_Oh yeah, he's in love_' while the crowd cheered for him, mostly girls.

Neji only chuckled to himself, then looked back to Naruto with a serious expression "Fine… All right… Since you are insist, I'll tell you about the hateful legacy of the Hyuuga clan! There's a secret birthright Ninjutsu passed down in the Hyuuga main branch, Hinata's branch of the family… It's a curse mark jutsu…" He said in a grim voice.

"A curse mark jutsu?" Naruto asked.

"This curse mark represents a 'Caged Bird'… And is proof that some people are bound to destinies from which they can't escape" He then slowly removed his headband and revealed a curse mark on his forehead shaped like an X with two horizontal lines at the side "One day when I was seven years old, this abominable mark was branded onto my forehead using the curse mark jutsu. That day, a grand celebration was being thrown in my world. There was a lavish ceremony in honor of our ruler. Every shinobi, from Genin to Jounin, was in attendance, except one family, which was noticeably absent! It was the Hyuuga clan! Coincidently, that day was also the day that the main branch's heir turned three… It was Lady Hinata's third birthday! My father and Lady Hinata's father, Hizashi Hyuuga and Lord Hiashi Hyuuga were twin brothers. However, Lady Hinata's father, Lord Hiashi, entered the world first, and thus was eldest son and member of the main branch. While my father, as second son, was relegated to the cadet branch… when the heir of the main branch turned three years old… I was branded with the curse and a 'Caged Bird'! A member of Hyuuga's cadet branch!" Neji finished, with eyes filled with pure hatred.

But Naruto was confused "W…why did they do that? Splitting into main and cadet branch. what is it for? And what does that mark mean?"

"This mark on my head is no decoration" growled the angry teen "This mark signifies an absolute threat of death imposed by the main branch upon the cadet branch. The secret techniques of the main branch can easily destroy the minds of those of the cadet branch. So, killing us is a simple task. And this curse mark only fades after death after the secret of the Byakugan has been sealed away!" This stunned the plumber, the mobian and Naruto, who could not believe that the family his pale eyed friend was from could be so… so cruel. Neji saw that, and continued "The Hyuuga clan possesses one of the most distinguished bloodlines. Countless numbers of people would do anything to gain the secret of such unique abilities. So, this curse mark was created to ensure that the cadet branch would live for one purpose only: to serve and shield the main branch and never disobey them. And to eternally protect the Byakugan, the bloodline trait of the Hyuuga clan. It's a brilliant, efficient set-up. And then, the incident occurred…" Neji locked eyes with Naruto "My father was murdered by the main branch" He finished, with hatred filling his words.

"W…what?" Naruto said in pure disbelief.

"One night, someone tried to kidnap Lady Hinata. Lord Hiashi rushed to the scene immediately and killed the perpetrator. It was the one bastard I'm looking for!" he shouted in true rage "That man, he cursed Lord Hiashi with a dark curse. Said curse was that that bastard kidnapper would take the life of anyone that Lord Hiashi chose so he could live, otherwise Lord Hiashi would have lost his life and that bastard could live… and who do you think that person was?" Naruto and everyone remained silent, and let him answer "It was my father! He was sacrificed for Lady Hinata's father by the orders of the Clan Elders!" he shouted in pure hatred, then placed his headband back into his forehead, before glaring back at Naruto and saying in a hatred filled voice, "The only way to escape this abominable curse… is to die. Even though they were identical twins with practically equal strength the difference between being born first and being born second, sealed each of their fates forever" Now Neji had an evil grin on his face as he sent Naruto a dark look "And so, in this match, too, the moment I was selected as your opponent, your fate was sealed as well…"

But Naruto just heard about enough and spat on the ground "If that's true, then why am I still standing? If you were as strong as you're stating you are, I would've been defeated by now" he growled as his two friends and the entire crowd were on his side, silent yet ready to shout in cheers for him.

"You're hopeless…" Neji sighed, then he charged Naruto again. But this time, Naruto had a trick up his sleeve. When Neji was about to strike him, he… disappeared "What th-" Was all Neji could say before Naruto kicked him in the back and sent him rolling forward. Then when he tried to get back up, Naruto appeared in front of him and caught him in the face with a right hook. Neji, clenching his face, stumbled backwards. He had a bruise on his cheek and a bloody lip. He glared at Naruto, who was chuckling at him. Neji activated his Byakugan and saw something that made him freeze: Naruto's chakra points… they opening back up again! But this time, instead of the normal blue chakra every normal person had, he saw… golden chakra… '_W-what? That's impossible! What kind of chakra is that?_' he asked himself in pure shock, as everyone else did as they saw Naruto defying logic with all he had.

"You say you know the future… and how this match would end. But here you are, getting punched and kicked by a person who you said wouldn't be able to stand anymore. And what's with you not being able to see my attacks coming? You're a Hyuuga, as in you're supposed to "see all"! What's wrong, Neji?" Naruto was trying to get Neji mad… and was doing an excellent job. But Naruto decided to do what his mentor has been doing best his entire life… keep on talking "You know? For a Hyuuga, you're pretty blind. Hinata didn't deserve what happened that night, nor your hatred, and you didn't deserve to have your dad taken away because of a bastard killer cursing her father. But what's done is done. And now, I'm gonna prove you wrong by beating you in this match" He started breathing heavily.

Then, the golden chakra started radiating from Naruto. Dust started swirling around Naruto, hiding him from the eyes of Neji and the rest of the audience. The crowd was stunned, and Neji was shocked to see all the chakra coming from his opponent.

When the dust cleared, Naruto stood there, no longer with blocked chakra points. Golden chakra was still radiating off him, and he smirked "Ready, Neji? Because here I go!"

Then in a blink of an eye, Naruto was gone. Then Neji felt a punch filled with highly condensed chakra land an uppercut to his gut that sent him flying high in the air. The whiskered boy summoned more of this new golden chakra to his feet and jumped behind the teen, before flipping and slamming his right heel on Neji's guts, sending him back to the ground with a force brute enough to leave several cracks on the floor. Deciding to finish it off the blonde charged all of the golden chakra he could to his right fist as he fell to the floor, and once he landed he glared at the teen that was barely standing.

Naruto shouted at top of his lungs "Look! I may not understand the tragic destiny of the Hyuuga clan or whatever, but if you think it's inescapable, fine! Then stop fighting against it! Because when I find Hinata, I'll help her change the Hyuuga clan forever!"

In an instant Naruto appeared in front of the Hyuuga and charged Neji with all his new chakra channeled into one last punch. Neji reacted quickly and rotated again, creating a new chakra cocoon, but when Naruto's fist impacted against it the teen was amazed that not only was the boy still standing and not flying away, but his fist was actually trespassing his barrier! Then it broke through his chakra shield before that last and explosive punch sent him to the ground with enough force to leave a crater.

He roared as he brought the punch down on Neji's rotation. A humongous explosion filled the arena with dust and smoke. No one could see what had happened. But after few minutes of waiting, the smoke finally began to clear. On the center of the arena was one gigantic crater... with Neji laying face down on it.

The blonde limped over Neji's body and said "You moron. There is no such thing as a preset destiny. It only exists if you want that destiny. People always have a choice and they can change your so loved 'Fate'… and I know that because Hinata once told me something you don't know, that she had a wish, that once she found her world she'd make sure to find her family so she could make sure all of its members were happy"

Neji gasped '_Lady Hinata… wanted to make us… happy?_'

For his part, Naruto had a similar thought '_So this is what Hinata meant when she talked about making her family happy, this is why she never told me about her world… another reason to find her and help her_' he smirked at the thought, and made a silent promise, to make sure Hinata realized her dream of making the whole Hyuuga Clan a happy one.

The referee came and inspected the body. Then cleared his throat "And the winner of the final match: Team Maelstrom!"

"YEAH! NARUTO IS THE BEST!" Luigi, Silver and even Oak shouted as the rest of the audience erupted in thunderous applause. The two small heroes started to slowly rise up as their chakra points were opening once again, and once Naruto was near them they hugged him.

"Kid, you're like a… a… I don't know, but it was awesome!" shouted Luigi.

"Yeah, I bet that old goat will have to give us the full hero title" Silver smirked.

Naruto nodded, but had one thought in mind "I wonder… what kind of life Hinata had before meeting me?"

But once he voiced his thoughts his two friends gave themselves a tired sigh, before they slapped his back, hard "Come on, kid. Isn't it obvious?" Luigi asked, and seeing him silent, in both pain and wonder, he answered "She's your friend, who else?" he said with a smile as Silver also gave him one.

Hearing that made Naruto smile… "Yes, she is" he then gave his big goofy smile and chuckled loudly "And once I find her I'll make sure her dream comes true! Believe it!" he shouted his favorite phrase, but unlike normal times he meant it with all his heart, like when he promised Vanilla to return her all of the Chao eggs, or that small promise to Hinata that he'd always protect his friends. Once he told people to believe his words then he meant he would make them true.

The trio then heard chuckling coming from Oak, and heard him say "Well, you three have impressed me once more. I gotta admit, you guys really have hero material"

"Heh, told you so" Silver chuckled proudly while rubbing his nose.

Naruto then walked over to Neji, as a good sport, and offered him his hand "Hey, I know you don't like Hinata, but if you're part of her family then I bet she surely wants to make you smile. Heck, knowing her she must have made plans to erase that curse mark of yours" Neji looked away from his hand and Naruto sighed "Look, believe what you want to believe, but Hinata, Satsuki and I have always given each other the strength we needed, so once she told us about her wish of finding her family and making it a better one we promised to help her. You know, when we wanted to see other worlds, to find her family, she was scared at first, but with us she was always sure, sure that we would make her dream of making her family smile a reality. And for that, even if she was scared and nervous, she didn't give up and trusted not only in me and Satsuki, but also in herself"

Neji then turned to see Naruto, and shocked the whiskered boy when he showed him the teary eyes he had filled with regret "Can I…" he started with a sad tone "Can I also be like you? Can I make my own fate?"

Naruto answered by smiling and replying "Not your own fate, your own future" Neji gave a weak chuckle and actually smiled a true happy smile, before wiping off his tears and stretching his hand to his… only for their surroundings to get dark, before Neji shoved the blonde! Naruto looked in horror as a gigantic dog-like creature about as tall as a three story building with a red mouth, curved horns on top of its head, black fur with what seemed like a bone-armor on its back and a devil's tail on its rear appeared and stomped on Neji. Meanwhile, Giovanni chuckled and left the arena.

"Well, accidents are meant to happen" He said chuckling sinisterly.

"What the-!" shouted a surprised mobian while the whole crowd exited the place in fear as he and the plumber approached Naruto to try to drag him away, key word being 'try' in that sentence, because the three of them were very sore after their fight with Neji. The gigantic black hellhound like creature approached them, ready to crush them under its gigantic paws.

The three closed their eyes, ready for a painful death, but said destiny never came, because in front of the gigantic black dog stood an orange dragon with short but strong legs and very thin arms with a flame on the tip of its dinosaur like tail. Behind the dragon, and carrying Neji on his shoulders, was a boy about Naruto's age. He wore a red and black cap with a blue Poke-ball on it over his black spiky hair. He also had jeans on, a black t-jacket with short white sleeves and a horizontal yellow streak, and red and black sneakers (The newest clothes). On his shoulder was a little yellow mouse with red cheeks and a tail shaped like a thunder bolt.

"Good work, Charizard" the boy said.

"Ash!" Oak exclaimed when he got to the still injured heroes.

"Professor, take them out. Me and Charizard are more than enough to deal with this oversized Houndoom" Ash said and started commanding the dragon while Oak did as told and carried, with a big effort, the three heroes away from the arena.

XXXXXX

Back inside the Coliseum everyone breathed hard and ragged, more the elder researcher as it had been a long time since he had done so much exercise like carrying a small boy, a pudgy midget and a three feet tall hedgehog.

"You guys alright?" Naruto asked everyone else while falling on his butt.

"We're fine, but what was that thing?" Luigi also asked as he tried to remain on his feet.

"It's a robotic version of a Houndoom" Oak answered with an angry expression "I bet Giovanni is behind this, that guy is always behind any chance to capture something rare and valuable"

"Who's that?" Silver asked while sitting on a bench.

"He's the leader of a notorious group of criminals that tries to steal rare Pokémon" Oak explained, then pointed to their side "And if you look to your right you'll see a wanted picture of him"

The group looked to the right and gasped in horror upon seeing the wanted poster.

"It's that guy who gave us the pass!" Naruto said in shock.

"We've been tricked!" Silver said angrily "That creep tricked us to enter in order to face Neji and run into that trap"

"What do we do?" Luigi asked.

"One thing to do: undo our wrongs and face that thing!" Naruto said with confidence.

"Kid, are you crazy?" Oak said in shock "That thing can't be beaten by human hands! And you three look as if a stampede of Tauros ran over you!"

"Listen, you can find out if we are hero material or not" Naruto said "This is our chance to prove it and we will stop that thing!"

"If that is your wish, then go Naruto" Oak said with a sigh, then smirked "Knock 'em dead, kid!"

But before leaving Naruto surprised Silver and Luigi by taking out a bottle filled with green liquid, the mobian asked "Is that what I think it is?"

The blond nodded "It's a Hi-potion Hinata gave me before all of this happened, I've been saving it in case we found her or Satsuki and they needed it" he gripped the bottle tighter, and to the plumber and hedgehog's surprise, he handed it to them "You two drink it, you're in a much worse shape than me"

Silver and Luigi were about to protest, but then saw that the blond was healing rather quickly, and then the hedgehog made a mental note to investigate what that golden chakra was and how could someone like Naruto have something like that while the plumber felt something familiar about it (And no, Naruto's mom ain't related to Mario games nor any other videogame). The two drank the potion, half and half, and felt their energies returning to them like a spring breeze. The trio then ran with the blond first towards the arena, ready to beat the robotic hellhound.

XXXXXX

Ash was cornered against a wall while carrying an unconscious Neji on his shoulders with the last of his strength. He saw his Charizard and Pikachu were still fighting the gigantic robot, but like him his Pokémon were also tired and cornered. His Charizard was then knocked aside by one of the robot's paws and crashed into a wall. Then a hand with a glove came out of the Houndoom's chest and grabbed Pikachu.

"Charizard! Pikachu!" Ash yelled as he put Neji down and ran to save his Pokémon. The robot simply took the hand inside and Ash got really angry "Give me back my Pikachu!" Ash demanded angrily as he punched and kicked the robot's foot.

The robot proceeded to try to stomp on Ash, key word being 'try' on that sentence, because Naruto quickly dived in and rescued him just in time.

"You okay Ash?" he asked.

"I'm fine, but who are you?"

"Let's leave introductions for later, look!" Silver pointed at the robot's head. The group looked up to see Pikachu in a glass container between the metallic dog's horns.

"Pikachu, you're okay!" Ash said happily "Use thunder to escape!" obeying his master, Pikachu released a great amount of electricity out of its body, but the attack didn't do a thing to the container and the poor mouse got weaker.

"It didn't work" Luigi said in disappointment.

"Wait" Naruto said suddenly "Someone is getting out"

All of a sudden the room got completely dark and a spotlight appeared above the robot's head and two figures started to appear, slowly rising from an open panel on the robot's head. One was a young man who had long purple hair and wore a white long sleeved shirt with the letter "R" printed on it, white pants, purple rubber boots and gloves. The other one was a young woman who had very long red hair, a white shirt with the same "R", a white skirt, long gloves and boots.

"Oh no! Not them!" Ash exclaimed.

"Prepare for trouble..." The woman said.

"Make it double..." The man said.

"To protect the world from devastation..."

"To unite all peoples within our nation..."

"To denounce the evils of truth and love..."

"To extend our reach to the stars above..."

"Jesse..." The woman said.

"James..." The man said.

"Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light..."

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

Then a little cat jumped in the middle of them with a golden coin on its head "Meowth, that's right!"

A little blue creature with its eyes permanently shut tight also appeared holding it's hand up in a salute "Wobbuffet!"

There was a log silence as the trio of heroes gave the villains blank stares, then the lights came back… before the villains gave themselves confused looks as they looked around for the heroes, and then found them sitting on the ground. Silver took out his book from thin air and started to read it while Luigi and Naruto were watching an old western movie from an old TV that who knows where they got it.

"A Jigglypuff is definitely for Blaze and good for her nap time" the hedgehog said while flipping through pages.

"So, this is a classic movie?" Naruto asked the plumber.

"Yes, you don't get to see good bandits like these in movies nowadays" nodded Luigi.

The villains were angry, and they showed how much by shouting simultaneously "Hey, you twerps, how dare you ignore our awesome motto?"

The heroes turned their heads to them, and asked in a bored tone "Sorry, did you say something?" then, for some reason, felt a shiver run down their spines and felt as if they were making someone's day.

XXXXXX

In another part of the universe, in a deep dark site, a man by the name of Kakashi, who had gravity defying silver hair and a mask that covered the lower half of his mouth did something very uncharacteristic of him, and pumped a fist in the vastness of space and shouted "Yosha, I finally got one!"

XXXXXX

Back in the arena Ash looked at the heroes worriedly "Don't underestimate these guys, they mean trouble"

Silver simply waved it off and said "Oh please, all they have is the corniest motto I've ever heard"

"Oh that's it! I'm turning that rat into a pancake!" shouted Jesse angrily.

"Be careful, they're very clever and tricky" Ash warned them, then turned to Team Rocket "Ok, you three, give me back my Pikachu!"

"Sorry, twerp." Meowth said. "But dis is a present for da boss."

"And we'll also destroy the twerp who holds the key" James added.

Meowth then scratched James's face "Be quite, we can't let dat kid know anything!" Meowth hissed.

"You probably work for a man named Giovanni, don't you?" Naruto shouted.

"Da boss?" Meowth asked in confusion.

Jesse then bonked the feline Pokémon over the head with a mallet "Can't you two keep your mouths shut for once?" Jesse angrily said hitting their heads.

"Yes ma'am" James and Meowth said dazed, rubbing the lumps on their heads.

"Now, twerp it's time for you to say good-bye to your Pikachu" Jesse laughed.

"Go Ash!" Naruto said getting his Keyblade out with Silver and Luigi ready as well "We'll deal with Team Rocket while you get Neji and Charizard out of here. I promise I'll rescue your Pikachu."

"Will you be alright?" Ash asked the blond. Naruto nodded and Ash grabbed the white eyed teen before taking his Poke-ball out. "Charizard return!" A red beam hit Charizard sending him back into the ball. Oak watched as Ash ran towards him with Neji, helping the boy with the teen once they arrived to safety.

"Now let's deal with these twerps" James said.

"We won't let you win Team Rocket" Naruto shouted, Keyblade ready, Luigi with his vacuum aimed at the trio of villains and Silver readying another attack.

"Come on, let's get these brats out of da way and then go to da boss and give him Pikachu. I'll be top cat again" Meowth said with a cackle. Then he and the other three villains headed into the machine along with the trapped Pikachu and started up the power.

Once he made sure that Neji was ok, Oak shouted to the blond "Kid, here's a piece of advice for you: ATTACK!"

The battle began as the robot fired enormous fire balls and breathed flames like a dragon at the group. Naruto gave his legs a big dose of chakra and quickly ran left to avoid them, while Silver hovered at fast speeds to his right. Luigi could only block them with his vacuum, but fell down to his knees. He got back up and ran, but it was obvious he was the slowest because of the Poltergust 3000 causing the extra weight. So he kept getting targeted in the behind.

"Did anyone order a well-done plumber?" James laughed mockingly.

"Hang on, Luigi!" Silver shouted "I'm coming!" the mobian quickly ran over to Luigi "Quick, get behind me!" Luigi then jumped behind the hedgehog, said psychic mobian waited until a jet of flames came at them, before launching both palms forwards and letting go a wave of psychic energy that deflected the flames. Silver shouted "You want fire?" and with that his hands flew through hand signs before he reeled his head back and fired an enormous fire ball at the robot… but it had no effect, and the robot's armor looked as clean as the first day.

"Holy ravioli! That thing's strong!" Luigi said in fear.

"Ha! Don't they realize dat our robo-Houndoom is immune to any attack?" Meowth laughed "And with Pikachu's thunder power as the fuel we get even stronger"

"Let's finish these twerps." Jesse said. But just when they were about to attack the two small heroes an alarm started sounding off "Huh?"

"What's going on?" James asked nervously.

Meowth checked the computer monitor and gasped saying "Da right foot has been damaged!"

"How?" Jesse asked in shock. She looked out the right window and looked down to see Naruto on the foot, holding his Keyblade with both hands and stabbing the robotic limb with all his might "Hey you, keep away from there!" She then turned back to James and Meowth "Quick you idiots, do something!"

"I'll use a shock wave attack!" James said hitting a button.

The robot stomped its left foot causing a strong quake that made the blond lose his balance "Whoa!" Naruto yelled in surprise once he fell down on his behind. He quickly saw that the foot he had been attacking while his two friends distracted Team Rocket was hovering over him, so he jumped back just in time to avoid getting squashed and ran to his group.

"What do we do?" Luigi panicked "Even after that attack we're getting nowhere!"

"Our best bet is to take out the source, the control room!" Silver shouted "But, how do we even reach it?"

"I've got an idea!" Naruto shouted.

"I may not like it" Silver began to say, getting an angry look from the blond "But what else can we do? This might be our only chance"

XXXXXX

Inside the control room of the robot the two humans were happily celebrating the ease they had beating our trio of heroes, but Meowth was looking nervously at the monitor "Uh, Jesse, James..." Meowth said trembling.

"Quiet, Meowth!" James interrupted with a snap "Don't you know we're about to win?"

"But look out the window!" Meowth said nervously. The villains looked out the robot's 'eyes' and saw at least fifteen Naruto's flying at them with a flying kick. Team Rocket screamed helplessly as the blond and his clones broke down the window and then used the villains' faces to stop themselves, knocking Team Rocket over.

"I'm coming Pikachu!" the real whiskered boy said running to the glass container behind the villains.

"Pika!" Pikachu said happily.

"Not so fast twerp!" James said throwing a ball "Go Victreebel!"

A giant yellow creature in the shape of a bell with a stem look on its head came out. But instead of attacking the boy, it puts its mouth on top of James's head, biting hard on the man and he struggled to get free of the plant creature. Jesse and Meowth rolled their eyes.

"Arbok, head-butt that brat!" Jesse shouted throwing a ball, from it a giant purple cobra came out and flew at Naruto before hitting the boy in the gut with its head, the Keyblade master crashed into the wall on the other side from Pikachu's container, gasping a bit for air as he was still very sore after his fight with Neji. "Strangle him!" Jesse commanded. Arbok put its tail around Naruto's neck and began choking him. The boy tried to undo the hold but it was too strong. Jesse smiled "Now finish it with poison sting!"

Arbok was about to bite Naruto on the neck, but thinking quickly, mostly because of the lack of oxygen, Naruto bit the snake's tail first, causing it to scream in pain and release him. Naruto got up and slashed Arbok before kicking its head, crashing it into a wall. Once the purple snake was knocked out cold the boy ran and with a strong slash broke the container, freeing Pikachu.

"No!" Meowth shouted "Without that rat we're ruined!"

"Not yet, we're not!" James said throwing a ball "Go Weezing!" A giant three headed purple, floating, round creature came out "Use smog to blind that brat!" James shouted. Weezing opened its mouths and breathed thick smog out that covered the whole room, causing Naruto to cough.

"I…can't...see!" the blond coughed.

"We got him now!" Team Rocket said together and made a grab for Pikachu, just to see all the air getting sucked out of the window and the room getting cleared "Huh?"

Everyone turned to see Luigi sucking up the air with the Poltergust 3000 and Silver next to him, both smiling proudly along with the clones that used their boss' distraction to get them there.

"Glad you made it" Naruto laughed.

"Hey now, who said you could start without us?" Silver chuckled.

"Quick Weezing, get rid of those twerps!" James shouted. Weezing was about to attack when all of a sudden Luigi grabbed it with his right hand and spun the creature around, before throwing it at Team Rocket, knocking them all down.

"Now's our chance" Luigi called to Silver and Naruto.

Naruto quickly took his Keyblade out and stabbed the control panels and they began sparking and the alarm sounded with all the monitors saying 'Malfunction', Luigi slammed his fist against the monitors, smashing them to little pieces, and Silver delivered the final touch once he finished his last hand sign and shot a torrent of water from his mouth at the already useless machine, making several lightning bolts shoot out from the panels and monitors, before they exploded bit by bit.

"No!" Meowth screamed. "What have you done?"

"Game over, Team Rocket!" Naruto said with a smirk with Pikachu on his shoulder.

"Quick, kid! This place is going to blow! Let's go!" Luigi shouted.

"Okay!" Naruto nodded.

The heroes, with Pikachu safe with them, jumped out of the window and landed safely on the clones' arms that acted as a safety net before the real blond dispelled them as he and his team ran away from the soon to explode robot. Said robot began sparking and going haywire. Team Rocket screamed and ran around panicking in the control room. Silver and Luigi both made it down and ran for it. Naruto turned around and threw his Keyblade at the spot of the right foot he had stabbed earlier, causing more damage to it and shocking Team Rocket.

Then, with a loud 'BOOM', the robot exploded and Team Rocket went flying, the three covered in ashes and with their hair, and fur in the case of Meowth, mangled in a very weird mane.

"Dat key brat and his friends are as annoying as the twerp" Meowth said.

"Even so I won't let them get away with kicking our faces" Jesse said angrily.

"I just want our vacations to arrive" said a sad James.

Then, while being in hearing range, "It looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!" Team Rocket shouted together as they flew off into the distance. A star twinkled from where Team Rocket was going flying and Wobbuffet shouted his name in the distance.

The heroes simply looked at them with another set of blank stares, before the hedgehog said "These guys are perfect as Saturday morning cartoon villains" his two friends and Pikachu nodded.

XXXXXX

Several minutes later, back at the lobby, Officer Jenny presented medals to Naruto and his crew.

"In honor of your brave work defeating those crooks and saving the Stadium, we present you with these medals of honors" Jenny said putting a medal around our heroes' necks. Ash, Oak and Pikachu looked on smiling. Naruto looked down at his medal and smiled while Luigi blushed and Silver acted as dignified as he could "Good job, and by request from Professor Oak, you have full rights to enter the games as junior heroes. Thank you for everything" She saluted Naruto's group and left them with their big smiles still on their faces.

"We did it!" Naruto cheered.

"We're in the games!" Luigi cheered.

But Silver soon turned to Oak with an angry look "What did she mean by junior heroes?"

"You still got a lot to learn about what it takes to be a true hero" Oak explained "It takes time to become one and once you understand what it takes, you'll know you truly are one"

"But how do we do it?" Naruto asked Ash.

"It takes time and you'll have to find out how" Ash explained with an assuring smile "Just the way me and Pikachu did. Right, Pikachu?"

"Pika!" Pikachu said happily.

"Okay, we'll start proving what we can do in the games!" Naruto said.

"That robot really messed up the stadium, so the games won't be for awhile" Oak said sadly "We got to clean the mess up from the last battle first. But if you give me a phone number, I could call you and let you know"

Ash then smiled at them "Until then, I'll be waiting for you guys, I bet that both me and my Pokémon will have a good fight from your three"

"You bet!" Naruto said and shook hands with Ash, feeling that he found another good friend and a great rival.

XXXXXX

Meanwhile, outside the arena, Neji was leaving, while talking to himself "That kid, Naruto, he simply rejected all the darkness within me… I wonder, could I do the same when I meet him" he growled as he remembered 'that' man "Even if the darkness were to leave me, that man can't be allowed to live, he's a true monster… Hikaru…Hyuuga"

**XXXXXX**

**And done! Damn did I feel awesome writing this chapter, although I must admit I took bits from other KH fics such as Tiger Lover 16's, KH Sonic Version and KH Nintendo Version. Well, at least I can say that I do all I can to keep myself original. And as for the power you've seen Naruto use… it'll be a secret till I want it to be, so sorry but there will be no spoilers no matter how much you beg me**


	7. Chapter 7

**I OWN NOTHING, but maybe, just maybe, there is an alternate dimension where my stories make me win billions. *Maniacal laughter* Sorry about that, but when you write a story with a whiskered kid, a psychic hedgehog and a strong as a bull short plumber…even I question my sanity**

**XXXXXX**

Wild party

Team Maelstrom is walking back to their plane, when their blond Keyblade Master sees someone near it: "Neji!" Naruto called the teen, who was heavily bandaged but still standing, before asking "Where were you? I wanted to ask you a lot of things!"

Neji simply blinked, and asked in surprise "You're not angry at me?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head and sheepishly answered "Well, I'm still mad at you, but more because of what you thought and said about Hinata" he then gave him a serious look "I know that bad things happened to her, so I want to know if I can help her in any way I can. But first I need to find her. Do you know where she might be?"

Neji sadly shook his head "No… and if I did meet her I don't think I should even talk to her after what I did"

Silver asked "You're telling us?"

"Hey!" Naruto scolded before turning once again to Neji "Please, just tell me if you have any idea of where she might be…anything…"

Neji looked at the blond, it was obvious he was desperate to find his long lost cousin, in a way he did feel kind of glad for the girl even after all he did…but sadly "Sorry…I have no idea of where she might be"

Luigi chided in "How about a man named Mario?" Neji shook his head again, making the plumber and the blond hang theirs down and mumble "Shoot…"

Neji felt kind of the same, and said in a calmer tone "You know, I'm actually looking for someone… besides that bastard, that's why I was in that tournament. That's why I made that deal with Giovanni, he said he could help me find that killer…and that person. He wanted me to do something evil, I didn't care, I just wanted to find my light again. That's what I've been searching for" the teen explained.

"You'll find it" Naruto said confidently "I'm searching too"

"Searching for your light?" Neji asked and Naruto nodded. For the first time since Naruto met him, the Hyuuga smiled a true warm smile. Neji then walked passed Naruto, placing something in his hand and patting him on the shoulder said "Don't lose sight of it" He said before walking off.

"Let's fight again sometime, no mind-games and no Team Rocket interrupting us. We can fight as equals" Naruto called encouragingly.

"No thanks. Not yet at least" the boy said before disappearing.

Naruto and friends stared after him for a while until Luigi decided they needed to get going "Let's try another world, there's a place not too far from here that could very well be where Mario went" Luigi suggested, then smiled "I kind of have a feeling our luck will get better"

"Yeah, let's go" Naruto said eagerly, rushing into the Toad Express. He then looked at what Neji gave him, it was a keychain with white and black links joined in a pattern and a yin-yang symbol hanging from it…That's when he thought of something weird "Hey, I kind of have an idea" he said to his two friends, making them stop.

Silver looked at him with a mildly surprised look and said "Well, show us already"

The blond nodded and summoned the Keyblade, took out the fox keychain he had for some reason named the Kingdom chain, and put the new one that Neji gave him…Only to gasp in surprise at what happened next along with Silver and Luigi! The Keyblade flashed a silver light, shinning like a moon in a lake, before the light died and revealed, to their utter surprise, a new Keyblade! The guard was black and circular, the handle was white, where the blade and the guard were connected was a yin-yang medal, the blade was a beautiful silver and the teeth were shaped like a crescent moon.

Whistling, Luigi said in a happy voice "Well, what do you think? Our luck just got better!" he said chuckling "Like the old saying, ask and thou shall receive, and we just got the jackpot!"

"So that's how this works, huh?" Silver asked himself with his arms crossed and a thoughtful look "It's highly probable that this isn't the only keychain that we might find, and it will definitely have a new power different than the others"

Naruto nodded, admiring the new weapon "Well, I can't wait to test this one out and see what it can do" he said with a wide smile.

"How about you give it a name, kid?" Luigi asked "So, what will it be?"

Humming Naruto answered "I'm thinking of naming it the Nocturne Eye blade, what do you guys think?"

"After our fight with Neji I think it really fits" Luigi answered.

"I'm just surprised you didn't theme it with ramen" Silver said honestly and then added "It still surprises me that your brain is this advanced with how you look"

"Hey!" snapped the blond.

Well, even after getting another of Silver's half-compliments it really seemed that his luck was getting better… but had he known how his dumb luck acts sometimes he would have known of Murphy's Law… and it says that when something seems too good to be true, then there's something bad around the corner.

XXXXXX

Later that night, Giovanni stood in the courtyard holding a toy of Ash, looking at it and saying what people normally said about the boy: "He's brave, he's noble, he's not that humble about victory but he's still a great guy" he said word after word of what his fans said, ending with: "That's why I hate him!" Giovanni roared, crushing the toy in his hands "I gotta destroy that punk along with that key brat, that plumber and the rat too!"

"Need some help with that?" Asked a shady figure with a creepy voice who had suddenly appeared behind Giovanni.

"Oh no you don't, this is my battle, stay out of it!" Giovanni spat.

"Very well, battle to your heart's content" the figure said in a surprisingly calm manner before disappearing.

Realizing he had just been made fun of, Giovanni muttered "When I'm done with Ash and those three clowns, that snake will be the next on my list"

XXXXXX

Our heroes are back in the Toad Express, exhausted and feeling as sore as if they had passed through a meat grinder after fighting several squads of heartless, strong Pokémon trainers, a really strong Hyuuga, a mechanic and gigantic hellhound and the three crazy villains piloting said robot. Yeah, it had been a long day for the poor heroes. Toadsworth had been kind enough to make them some herbal teas to get rid of their pain and aching… everything. Meanwhile, the three heroes were having a nice meal in the plane, with Naruto finally taking a break from reading the scrolls that Silver lend him about chakra and its elements, full control of elemental chakra and the basic techniques of elemental chakra. The hedgehog also decided that maybe it was time to get some answers.

"Hey Naruto, take this" he said while giving the blond a slip of paper "Try to infuse some chakra into this paper, just trust me"

"Um, ok…" Naruto said through a mouthful of ramen, a little puzzled about the request but did so anyways after placing his now empty bowl on the table, once done he saw the paper split perfectly in half "Wow, how did that happen?" he asked amazed, but the hedgehog didn't respond, instead Silver looked at the paper and Naruto saw a bit of disappointment in the hedgehog's eyes, making him feel bad and a bit guilty "Oh… I'm sorry…"

The mobian snapped back to reality "What? Oh no, nothing's wrong, Naruto" he said and then sighed "It was just a test to see what's your affinity with chakra, and congratulations, you got a very rare type, wind chakra" then the psychic crossed his arms and put a thoughtful look on his face "But this is weird… I was sure that this paper would have told us about what that golden chakra of yours was…"

Luigi placed his empty bowl of pasta on the table and chided in "I think I kind of have an idea… although none too sure"

Naruto leaned in obvious interest "Please Luigi, it might even tell me something very important…" he practically begged the green clad man.

Looking at him, Luigi nodded firmly "Ok, I've seen power similar to that one before. In my world and many others that is the 'Light Power' that comes from the good of a person's heart. I think, if I'm not wrong, that you Naruto have some sort of ability to draw it easier than me and my brother, who have to use special items to draw it… so it could mean that you have something in your genes that has to do with it… Although, one can also summon light power in small amounts when they focus hard enough, yet me and my brother have also used enormous quantities of it when in very hard times"

Silver nodded and voiced his thoughts "So, maybe the Keyblade is drawing the light within Naruto and let him use that power in our death fight with Neji because of two obvious things, he was in great danger when fighting that guy and he used his whole heart to beat him"

Naruto smiled at that "Well, it seems that the Keyblade has another great use" he then summoned the Nocturne Eye and the trio stared at it while the whiskered boy voiced their thoughts "Just… what is the Keyblade exactly?"

Silver then raised his head when he remembered something "Hey Naruto, what did you mean a second ago about something very important?" he asked "I mean, light power is something that all persons with good hearts posses, so why would you be interested in it?"

Naruto shook his head "No, it wasn't the power, it was…" he soon trailed off and sighed "Just… just forget it, ok?" he soon forced himself to smile at the duo and the mushroom that had just entered with their tea "Listen, why don't we drink a bit of tea and simply forget it, I actually stopped caring about that some time ago…"

The three small travelers looked at their blond friend for a long time, noting his sad smile, and silently agreed to leave that theme hanging… at least until Naruto decided they could know.

XXXXXX

In a distant space, a figure sighed sadly, muttering to itself "So close to your heart… yet so far away…"

A second figure approached the first one and asked "You still want to be with him, huh?"

"Can you blame me?"

"No, after all, you're the only one of us that gave life to someone… It's really sad not to be with someone like him in our family, he'd be fun to have around… even if we have a duty here"

"Yes… but I believe in him"

"We all do, after all, if he succeeds where no one ever has before then you'll be able to hug him… along with them…"

XXXXXX

The heroes were resting as the tea had been working wonders on their aching bodies. Luigi was playing Black Jack with Toadsworth, so far a mountain of chips the size of a newborn puppy was on the smiling mushroom's side while the sweating plumber only had six left. Silver and Naruto were in the middle of the boy's chakra training, which consisted of Naruto cutting perfectly in half normal slips of paper with the hedgehog's advice, so far he only had cut like quarter an inch.

"This is your captain speaking" said the pilot's voice to the travelers "If you look to your right we'll find a new world, right now I'll await for your orders to land or not"

"We're landing/leaving!" Naruto and Silver said respectively, then looked at each other confused before the kid asked "What do you mean that we're leaving? Hinata and Satsuki might be there"

Silver simply shook his head "Listen Naruto, Luigi and me are looking for Mr. Mario, and I really doubt he might be there-"

"I don't care!" the blond snapped, interrupting the hedgehog "I'm getting down there even if I must jump to find the girls!"

"Naruto, you're not thinking straight! We have a mission and we need you to accomplish it!" the mobian said firmly as he stood in front of the blond "Mario is out there investigating this whole mess and as far as we know he might have the only clue to stop the heartless, so we need to find him first!"

"Kids, come on, don't fight" Luigi said to calm them down "Look, why don't we try to think this through and-"

"SHUT UP!" both the boy and the psychic shouted, the first adding "We're going down there and we'll look for my friends!"

"We're not, we need to find Mario to put an immediate halt to the heartless!" argued Silver "After we find Mr. Mario we'll have a better chance to get rid of the heartless and then you'll be able to find them with all the time in the world!"

"Like I care, they might be hurt or even worse! Get out of my way!" Naruto shouted as he charged at the hedgehog and got a handful of his forehead's quills, trying to move him out of the way. Silver countered by grabbing the arm which hand had his quills and trying to pull the blond away by gripping his black T-shirt with the red leaf symbol.

Luigi watched mortified as his two friends fought against each other not knowing what to do to stop them while Toadsworth went to tell the pilot to go around the world until the two would calm down… bad idea, since the elder mushroom left the door open, letting Naruto and Silver enter the cabin, still fighting… and fall on the control panel. The ship then started to shake and began to fly straight down into the world "No!" the pilot screamed "What have you done?"

Toadsworth screamed as he grabbed on to a chair "Everyone hang on, we're going to crash!"

And as they fell, Naruto had only one thing to say "Silver, just for the record, I blame you!"

"Why you!" growled the mobian.

XXXXXX

The Toad Express had crashed on the beach of a huge jungle. Smoke came out of the ship as it laid there, its structure intact, but the same couldn't be said about the inside nor the broken windows. Toadsworth stood up and walked outside, coughing from the smoke that still hadn't faded through the broken windows.

"Oh dear! What a landing!" Toadsworth said as he tried to avoid stumbling dizzily after such an impact.

He then saw a Toad with a toolbox walking out "I'll go see if we're damaged" the Toad said with a salute.

"Thank you" Toadsworth responded "Everyone alright on board?"

"Well, I saw the pilot and that Naruto kid on board out cold, but Luigi and Silver are missing" the Toad answered.

"Goodness!" Toadsworth exclaimed "Master Luigi and Master Silver are missing! I must inform Master Naruto!" Toadsworth ran back into the ship and saw the blond out cold on the ground, face down and with drool covering the once clean floor. The elder mushroom grabbed the boy by his shoulders, took a handkerchief and wiped off the drool of his mouth before he shook him "Master Naruto! Master Naruto! Please wake up!"

The boy slowly opened his eyes and looked at the mushroom with the moustache "Uncle Mushroom? Would you tell me the story about the miso ramen and the hungry knight?" he asked dazed.

"I'm just going to pretend I didn't hear that" Toadsworth said sweat-dropping.

The blond sat up and rubbed his head "Oh, man. My head hurts as if I had been sparring with Satsuki for hours" he groaned and then turned to the mushroom "What happened?"

"What happened?" Toadsworth echoed in surprise, and then said in anger while raising his arms "You is what happened! You crashed the ship and we're stranded here because of you, you… you delinquent!"

"I did it for a reason!" the boy snapped angrily, making the mushroom step back a bit "I'm searching for my friends, and Silver promised he would help me find the girls while I helped him find Luigi's brother! But he ignored me and broke that promise! So I had a reason to get angry" he finished looking away angrily at the beach.

The mushroom shook his head "Still, no excuse for crashing the ship" Toadsworth said in a calmer tone. He then noticed the whiskered boy making a very sad look. He then talked in a peaceful tone "I guess you did have your reasons. Don't be too upset, Master Naruto. We all make mistakes. You're just a teenager, meaning you still have a lot of maturing to do. There is a lot to learn growing up, I tell you that from my own experience"

Naruto sighed and nodded; he then looked around and called his friends' names "Luigi? Silver? Are you guys here?" no answer "Where are they?" he asked scratching the back of his head.

"I was just about to ask you the same thing" Toadsworth said.

"You mean they're not here?" Naruto asked in shock and slight fear. Toadsworth just shook his head sadly, and Naruto cursed lowly "Damn it…"

Then the Toad mechanic entered the room "Sir! I have good news, bad news and more bad news" He said to the elder "The good news is that the engine is fixable and I should have it fixed within few hours. Luckily, the plane landed in very soft sand"

"And the pilot?" Toadsworth asked concerned.

"He should be up later" The Toad responded "But the bad news is that after closer examination I discovered that a minute before landing in this world that Luigi and Silver fell out of the plane. The other round of bad news is that the communications are busted, the cameras still work and will record everything, but any attempt to contact them or seeing any clear image is futile until we repair the whole set"

"No!" Naruto shouted in fear, clutching his head in despair "It's all my fault! I hope Luigi's all right"

"Um, and what about Master Silver?" Toadsworth asked concerned for the boy's lack of interest in said hedgehog.

"Huh? Um… oh, yeah, him too" the kid said with his arms crossed and an angry face in a not very caring voice.

'_It seems he now holds a grudge against Master Silver_' Toadsworth thought in dread, and turned to the boy "Master Naruto, while we work on getting the plane back in tip top shape, you try to find some assistance and the locations of Master Luigi and Master Silver. After all you're the one who crashed the ship, so you need to fix this mess. I shall keep the badge's camera rolling on you for journal business"

The boy nodded "Alright, I'll get to it, and maybe I might find the girls"

XXXXXX

Naruto had been walking for a while, to avoid getting sun burnt he grabbed a humongous leaf and tied it on his back with a vine, using the leaf as a parasol while he walked through the sand, getting a feeling of nostalgia about his island, but mostly, the girls. When he remembered the girls he felt angrier at Silver, he believed that the hedgehog would help him as he and the plumber promised, but to see him not giving a damn about the two persons that made the blond the happiest man in the universe was the one and only last straw.

He kept on walking with his leaf-parasol, but as his thoughts about a certain grey mobian made him angrier he failed to notice the figure following him… until he bumped against it. It was a big and fat humanoid creature with a face not too friendly; he was a dingo-crocodile hybrid wearing blue pants with a hole in them so his reptile tail was out, and a cylinder on its back that was connected to some sort of rifle in his hands.

Then he noticed something in the creature's arms: eggs. They were big eggs about a foot and a half long, completely white and with a yellow tip on top. So, feeling curious, he asked "Hey mister, what are those eggs?"

The dingo-reptile hybrid scoffed and said "These here are Chao eggs, my meal!" it shouted, making Naruto go wide-eyed.

"Wait a minute, you can't eat those" he said getting up "Please, there is someone who cares a lot for the beings born in them, so please, just give them to me so I can return them to her"

But the weird hybrid sneered and shouted "Oh no! These here is my food…" it shouted but trailed off as it looked angrily at the blond who interrupted him and now told him he couldn't have his rare dinner, "Now beat it, punk! I'm not gonna wait anymore, so get out of my way or I'll roast you!"

"What!" exclaimed the blond in shock, only to see the dingo-crocodile aim his weapon at him, before a jet of flames flew at him. Naruto responded to that by jumping away, sadly his leaf-parasol got caught in fire and started to burn. The young Keyblade master took it off and then began to roll on the sand in order to put off any fire that might have gotten to his clothes or hair.

Once taking notice that his life was saved from being taken away with him turned into a barbeque the boy got up…only to see the flamethrower inches away from his face and the fat hybrid creature cackling evilly "Well, I got myself a nice dinner: a well-done blond kid!"

Naruto closed his eyes, waiting for his death…until…

"Crash!"

As someone shouted that, both the blond and the dingo-crocodile turned to see the oddest of sights. A flying wooden mask with five multi-colored feathers on its head and green hair growing on the sides was floating their way, following what would be best described as a miniature tornado came their way, and said tornado was, for some reason, orange. Then, when the miniature tornado approached them the blond and the creature with the flamethrower noticed that it was headed against one of them…making Naruto smirk.

"I just hate my life" was all the creature said, before the tornado sent him flying high in the air. Fortunately for Naruto the force had been strong enough to knock off the Chao eggs from its hands, and the blond was even luckier that the sand was soft enough to give them a soft landing.

So, with a thankful smile, Naruto turned to the mask and his savior, and said "Thank you" he also noticed that his savior was a large orange bandicoot with a face that could only be described as either crazy or stupid with black tuft of hair and black tattoos on his hands (As seen in Crash of the Titans). It wore a pair of blue jeans and dark-red shoes. The creature scratched its head, apparently confused "Um…can you hear me?" the boy asked the bandicoot.

"He won't talk. He's a mute" the mask said.

"Wow… " the kid said in awe, looking at the mask "It's the first time I see a voodoo mask spirit. You're one of the good ones, right?"

"That is correct" The mask spirit said "You are quite intellectual for such a young age"

"No, it's just that I have a good teacher" Naruto asked, though mentally added '_Whenever he isn't doing his perverted research or getting drunk_' "Anyways, my name is Naruto, thanks for saving me"

The mask nodded as response "You're welcome, Naruto. My name is Aku-Aku" Aku-Aku motioned to the bandicoot with unfocused eyes "And that is Crash"

"What's wrong with him?" the kid asked.

"He's an idiot" Aku-Aku answered, making Naruto face-fall hard on the sand at such bluntness.

After getting up and brushing off the sand, Naruto asked "So, Aku-A...you know what, I'm just gonna call you Aku. Aku, do you know where I am?"

"Well, if you didn't know then let me welcome you to the Wumpa Islands" Aku said, and then asked "So, what brings you to these parts of the island, are you looking for someone?"

"Yeah!" the boy said excitedly with a nod "I'm looking for my friends, there's two of them, the gray one is Sil-" he stopped there, thinking of what happened in the plane, the hedgehog made a promise and broke it, so Naruto knew that now the search for his friends was only up to him, so with a heavy voice he said "There's two of them, they're a couple of girls named Hinata and Satsuki, Hinata has short blue hair and cute white pupil-less eyes while Satsuki is raven haired and has coal black eyes"

And that's when Naruto noticed something he certainly did NOT expect to see: Hinata. His cute timid and pale eyed friend was there, behind Aku and rubbing the eggs with the care and gentleness that pure heart of hers could only muster. He knew it had to be her because of that soft smile that she had while caressing the to-be-born Chao, only she could have had such a dazzling smile. He wanted to talk to her, but something made him take a double look…her body seemed…blurry…

As he asked himself if he was hallucinating or not, Aku brought him half-way back to reality by asking: "Your friends?" The boy nodded, not paying complete attention but tilting his head to one side to look at the blurry Hinata stand up, smile at him with that shy and cheery expression he loved oh so much…and disappear. But just as Naruto was to do anything, Aku continued "I think I might be able to help you with that"

"For real?" Naruto asked, feeling new hope and forgetting about the vision of before, brushing it off as another hallucination of Hinata…he surely missed her, no other person could make you smile like she did.

Aku nodded, and said "Yes, there are some people living here, so if they're around then it's a high chance they have seen your friends" he turned to the eggs and added "But I think you'll need help with those, right? After all, I don't think that Dingodile would have gotten those eggs for good reasons"

"Dingodile? You mean that ugly lizard?" Naruto said, and made Aku chuckle.

"Yes, I think that's a way to describe him" Aku said, and then approached the eggs "Well, don't worry about these, I've got it covered" as he said those words a weird light engulfed the eggs, before they disappeared in a flash, and before Naruto had a chance to say a thing the mask explained himself "Don't worry, I've put them in a safe place, in a realm only I can enter" he then turned to the bandicoot and said "Come on Crash, it's time to head home"

And with that, the Keyblade master, the crazy bandicoot and the voodoo mask headed into the jungle.

-**Wumpa Island**-

Meanwhile, Silver and Luigi were sitting in a home's red ceiling near the beach, the hedgehog having a large angry frown while the plumber had a very worried look on his face "Mamma-mia, this place looks very dangerous…I just hope Naruto is ok…"

"Bah, who needs that orange, ramen maniac of a nuisance!" growled the angry psychic "I just wanted to get this mission done, and then he wouldn't have had to worry about finding his friends…but no, oh no, he had to get us here, stranded on this jungle in the middle of the ocean…Argh, I'm so angry I just want to pull off my forehead's quills!" he shouted and was about to do that if it weren't for Blaze saying she loved said quills.

"Hey, Silver"

"What is it?"

"Look what I found" the short man said as he grabbed what looked exactly like three Chao eggs, and a weird golden semi-circular gear-looking…thing

"Chao eggs? Here" the hedgehog questioned before stating "We can't let them in this place, they need to be in their garden, an infirmary or something of the sort" he took them and held them up with his psychokinetic powers before he teleported the eggs to hammer-space "They'll be safe…for now at least" he said, and noticed the plumber looking intently at the weird device "What's the matter, Luigi?"

"This seems to be one of the parts our plane is made of…but it's different" the short man said thoughtfully.

"How different?" asked the curious mobian.

"Different as in I've never seen something like this before" the plumber said as he inspected the gadget, before pocketing it "Well, now we should better get down from here and find the plane and, if you want, Naruto before investigating what it is" he said, getting a groan from Silver as he mentioned the kid's name.

"Umm…" a voice, a female one, started to say "Not to be rude…but could you guys tell me what are you doing all the way up here in my home's ceiling?" The heroes looked up to see a female bandicoot with long blond hair tied up on the ground. She wore blue jeans, a white t-shirt, and blue headscarf in her hair.

XXXXXX

The whiskered kid, the orange bandicoot and the voodoo spirit arrived at a nice house at the beach's side "Nice place" complimented the blond as he stepped forwards…and suddenly stop when his companions fell down from the ceiling.

"Naruto!" the hedgehog and the plumber exclaimed happily.

"Silver! Luigi" the young shinobi exclaimed equally happily. He and Silver ran up and prepared to hug each other in joy… then they remembered the fight from earlier. Just as they grabbed each other's arms they crossed their arms and turned away from each other with a loud "Hmph!"

"Wow…they sure are best friends" sarcastically murmured the female bandicoot.

"So you're still here, huh?" Silver said angrily.

"Well, someone has to look for Hinata and Satsuki since you will not help me…" the blond responded in an angry tone.

"Hey, we are helping you!" the hedgehog replied as he turned to face the blond, the kid doing the same as he glared at the mobian, who added "We said we'd help you find your friends, but only after finding Mr. Mario and help him defeat the Heartless, then neither you nor I will have to worry about what they might do to them"

"But what about them being alone?" Naruto retorted angrily "You expect me to just turn a blind eye when they might be here all by themselves and just look for someone who we don't have an idea of where he is?"

The hedgehog stepped forward and pressed a finger on Naruto's chest "Listen Naruto, we have a mission that is the most vital in the whole universe! Once we complete it no one will have to worry about looking for their missing loved ones since all of them will be together! So you'll have to wait!"

"And what about my friends?" Naruto asked as he put his forehead on Silver's while they glared at each other "There's no way I'm going to just fly to wherever you have a whim to go just because of a hunch on where to find Mario, my friends are my main mission here and I will find them, one way or another!"

"We have a mission that involves the whole universe, can't you see that?" the hedgehog said exasperated at the boy's stubbornness.

"Make me" the blond challenged.

"Whoa, whoa, WHOA!" shouted Luigi as he pushed them away from each other thanks to his superhuman strength "Come on, kids, switch to decaffeinated…for my sake at least" the poor plumber then let out a tired and defeated sigh when both of them turned around with their arms crossed again.

"Well, anyways…" Naruto started to say "I'm staying" he and, shockingly, Silver said in unison "Huh?"

"Naruto, look what we found" Luigi told him as he showed the kid the weird half-gear thing…

"What is it?" Naruto asked.

"Luigi said it's a special material that can be used for the Toad Express." Silver explained.

"Which means that my brother could be here." Luigi said with a happy tone.

"So we're going to work together...for now." Silver said, ruining the plumber's joy.

"Okay, I'll tag along...for now." Naruto said.

"AAAAAAHHHH!"

The trio quickly turned, just in time to see Dingodile and what seemed like a very big humanoid tiger wearing military clothes carry a now tied up female bandicoot. "Coco!" Aku shouted the bandicoot's name before turning to the two villains "Dingodile, Tiny, let her go!" he ordered.

"No way, Cortex's orders" the hybrid said.

"And his words are law for us, so please don't mind us or we'll have to hurt you real bad, ok?" the tiger, Tiny, said with a very feminine tone.

"No way!" the heroes shouted and got into their fighting stances with Crash and Aku beside them.

"Like you have a choice" a new voice said and the heroes turned to see a yellow skinned man even shorter than Luigi and Silver with a large head with a big 'N' on it… and barely any hair, except for the beard and the two strands at the sides of his head…which top was flat. He wore a simple lab coat, jeans and black gloves and boots. As the man stood in a floating platform he pointed a finger at the group of heroes "I, the great evil scientist Dr. Cortex hereby challenge you to a duel, Crash Bandicoot!" Cortex said as he pointed at said crazy animal "Your new friends are welcome to join you…to your death!"

"Wow…the boss has been working really nice on his evil-liners" Tiny commented with amazement.

"Thank you, I'm an evil scientist after all" Cortex stated proudly, earning sweat-drops from the heroes before addressing to them once more "Now, you three…since I haven't experimented on any of you before I can say you're not from here, but don't worry, I'm sure you'll have lots of fun with my new minions!"

And with those words the heroes were surrounded by enemies they had known far too well in their travel "Heartless!" they shouted as several blue monkeys with the dark beings' emblem on their chest jumped around them surrounding the trio, the bandicoot and the floating mask.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to plan what to do with Coco Bandicoot while you three are here left to your dooms" he said and flew off, followed by the two goons carrying the girl.

"Wait!" Naruto shouted as he charged after them, only to be blocked by one of the monkey heartless. The blond soon stepped back before the Power Wild could have shredded him to pieces with his claws. "Geez, these guys just don't know how to give up." he complained.

"These creatures have no logic." Silver stated. "So I doubt they even know what that means."

"Let's take them down!" Luigi exclaimed.

"Wait!" Aku interrupted. "Let us handle this." Aku floated next to Crash's head. "Look, Crash, evil monkeys. Go play"

"Play?" Silver questioned.

Crash was looking sad to where Coco had been taken, and then he noticed the power wilds. He then gave a huge creepy smile that made the heroes step back in fear, and twisted his body around. He twirled his body the other way around and created an orange tornado. The bandicoot-tornado charged at the power wilds and knocked them down like bowling pins. The heroes had maddening looks on their faces as the insane animal just kept its charge and eliminated the heartless with ease…and kept on going.

"Crash is just as insane as a certain 'Green Beast' I know" Naruto dully stated.

"And it looks like he can't stop" Aku said when he noticed Crash twirling out of control through the jungle "We'd best go after him"

And so the heroes ran after the brainless bandicoot. Crash, though he was in danger, seemed to be having the time of his life. The Crash twister eventually made it to the ruins of some old abandoned laboratory. Before he could run away any further, he smacked into the steel wall and pounded his face into it. The heroes eventually caught up with him and looked a bit pained at the collision.

"Man, this guy is more trouble then he's worth" Silver muttered.

"At least he wanted to help me find my friends" Naruto shot back.

"Hey, your friends can wait, we have things to do" Silver responded.

"Would you be saying the same if you lost someone dear to you?" the blond shouted, and surprisingly, Silver stayed quiet…for a few seconds…

"I once did…though it was her choice…" the hedgehog sadly replied with his head hung low, making the kid gasp, before continuing "I know how you feel, but there are times when a mission is more important that what we may hold dear…I learned that the hard way when my most beloved person sacrificed herself to stop a very evil being…I just had the incredible luck of her returning back once we defeated that monster…"

"Still, that's no excuse to just forget about what we love" Naruto stated…but not angrily, but with a sad tone.

"Kids…" Luigi whispered, not knowing what to say…and without thinking "Well, we have something to do right now, there's someone important that we need to rescue right now!" he said getting their attention, and just kept talking without thinking "Listen you two, I may not know what it is that got you two so into this stupid fight…I really miss my brother too… but right now there are people in danger…so let's forget about thinking and just act! Forget about the logic and all of that and just do what you feel is right…ok?"

As his words just entered the two's ears…they just forgot what happened and decided to just act, just act.

"All right, let's go save Coco" Naruto stated.

"And beat Cortex into next Thursday" Silver added.

"…Believe me; it has been a time since I've heard such wisdom" Aku stated as he looked at the now embarrassed plumber.

"Aw shucks, you're just saying that" Luigi said while scratching the back of his head with a sheepish smile.

Aku inspected the area and stated "This is it. This is the place where Cortex is keeping Coco. Be ready all of you, it's obvious it'll be a trap"

"No surprises here" Silver stated as they entered the place.

XXXXXX

The heroes bravely entered into the abandoned lab to begin their search. Since Aku was the only one who knew his way around, he floated up front to lead the group. Everything seemed easy to them. A little too easy for their tastes.

"It's strange." Silver said. "Why haven't seen any heartless around?"

"Because we are more than enough to take on you three" said a voice Naruto knew now too well.

The team jumped out of a jet of flames when Dingodile tried to fry them, Naruto and Silver jumped at one side while Luigi, Crash and Aku went to the other. Suddenly a steel wall fell from the ceiling and separated the two groups, leaving the whiskered boy and the hedgehog to fight against the fat hybrid while the plumber, the bandicoot and the mask were face to face against the humongous, feminine tiger.

(With Naruto and Silver)

"Luigi, Crash, Aku!" Naruto shouted as he pounded his fist against the cold steel…getting no answer.

"Kid, you have bigger things to worry about" Dingodile said as he aimed his flamethrower at them "For instance, having ruined my meal!" and with those words he fired at them several fire-balls as Silver created a wall made of his mental energy to keep the flames at bay with him and Naruto behind.

"Naruto, I'll cover you, give this creep a knuckle sandwich if he's so hungry!" Silver shouted as Naruto nodded and took out the Nocturne Eye. Naruto jumped out of the barrier and landed on a wall, before he started to run on it around the evil experiment.

"Hold still, you little pipsqueak!" Dingodile growled as he tried to fry our blond hero who just kept on running in the walls…not noticing Silver's hands flying through hand signs.

"Chew on this!" the hedgehog shouted, before spitting a big fireball at Dingodile…who smirked.

"You think that can stop me?" the hybrid cackled before firing more flames against the attack, both cancelling each other…and making Silver smirk "What are you so happy about?" he asked angrily as Silver pointed above the two…where a certain blond ninja knucklehead was standing on the ceiling.

"I hope you like your order of Clobbering" the hedgehog mocked with a smirk as Dingodile looked up…seeing a Keyblade at three inches from his face.

"Eat this!" Naruto shouted as he slammed his blade right on the experiment's face and successfully knocking it out cold.

"Mommy…I don't wanna go to sleep" was all Dingodile said before falling hard face first.

(With Luigi, Crash and Aku)

"Silver, kid, answer me!" Luigi shouted, he took off his vacuum and ran to the wall, slamming his fist into the steel, proving futile.

"I don't think so, greenie" said Tiny from behind him "Listen, pal, you'd better get out of here or otherwise I'll have to eat your faces…seriously, I'll have to hurt you a lot"

By now both Luigi and Crash were worried, because the tank of a creature in front of them seemed really strong…and his attitude was weird to say the least, though Luigi and Aku seemed to be the only ones that were nervous about that while Crash looked scared…but…

"Listen, fella, we have someone to rescue and we won't back down" the plumber said as he took a nervous step forwards.

"Then this is gonna be a gig boo-boo on you, greenie" Tiny said and charged at the plumber.

The tiger threw a punch at Luigi, but the plumber moved out of the way and tried to trip Tiny. The tiger jumped over Luigi's kick and kicked the plumber in the face, sending him flying into a wall. But just as he was about to hit the wall Luigi spun his body back and kicked against it, lunging at the tiger and punching Tiny, who blocked the attack and tried to counter it, only problem was that Luigi also blocked it.

"Impressive skills" Aku complimented, then turned to his crazy bandicoot friend "Crash, get ready, once Tiny stops moving attack him" he ordered and Crash nodded as he saw in amazement the battle.

Luigi blocked a kick with his arm and tried to counter with a punch, but Tiny blocked it with his hand. The two struggled but the short man had the advantage of his brute force, so Luigi pushed Tiny back and did a round house kick, knocking the effeminate tiger down, but he quickly got to his feet and kicked Luigi in the gut, making him fall back and hard. Luigi got back up as he sucked up the pain and the two stood in fighting posses.

"Truly impressive, greenie" the tiger smirked "You rival my skills and technique, but in the end not even you can defeat me"

"Come prove it" Luigi smirked. Luigi waved his hand with a "Bring it on" hand movement. The two then charged at each other again.

"Crash, get ready!" Aku whispered as the bandicoot twisted his body to one side.

Luigi was blocking some of the tiger's attacks, but Tiny managed to punch Luigi in the chest, sending him crashing him into a wall and falling down hard in pain. Luigi jumped back up, fighting off the pain and sent a flying kick at the tiger, but he blocked it again and threw Luigi back, making him crash into the ground. Luigi got back up, but he was short of breath.

'_I can't last much longer'_ Luigi thought.

"I'm bored of you, greenie." Tiny sighed. "Time to finish you off, and it will be bad for you" he said in a certain sing-song voice then…

"Now, Crash!" shouted Aku's voice as an orange mini-tornado charged at Tiny, knocking him down upon impact.

"Thanks for the save" Luigi said to his crazy ally "Now's my chance!"

Tiny slowly got up from the ground and looked around with caution.

"Oh dear me, what hit me?" He said in a daze… then turned to see Luigi running at him with a punch. "Uh-oh!"

Luigi punched the tiger in the gut and continuously hit him before jumping up into the air doing a mid-air pose "Pasta Power!" He cried and then kicked Tiny right in the face as he fell to the ground. The evil effeminate tiger weakly got up and looked up to see a smirking Luigi. "Want some more?"

"I...give...up!" Tiger said weakly. He then fainted.

"Hoo-hoo!" Luigi heard Crash cheer for him.

That's when the wall finally lifted up and showed how the other heroes had beat their respective opponents. Silver and Naruto walked up to the other group, the first one laughing a bit "Man, that guy sure was weak!"

"Well, I was the lucky one" Luigi said a bit exhausted as he put his vacuum on his back "I had to fight the tiger, if it hadn't been for Crash here I would have been dinner"

"Well, Silver and I had it easier because that lizard guy only had his weapon" the blond said with a smile, then looked at the crazy bandicoot "You saved Luigi, thanks Crash, we'll save Coco in no time" he said and got a happy giggle and some gibberish as a response, but it all sounded as a 'Thnak you' in some sort of crazy way.

XXXXXX

After our heroes were fully rested they arrived to the main room, which had enormous computers all around a big metal platform in the middle. Crash immediately tried to barge into the place… but was knocked back by an invisible force.

"What was that?" Aku asked, stunned.

"My guess, bad news" Said Silver

"Actually, that is a very brief but good explanation of what's actually happening" Said Cortex, who had just appeared above the group in his hovercraft. "Anyway, I'm afraid you're too late, Crash, my new associates have already taken Coco away. And now, it's time for you to finally die!" Cortex announced, Crash growled at the evil scientist and shook his fist at him, Cortex just laughed maniacally.

The evil midget then jumped down and sat…on the air. The heroes noticed that where he was sitting the air below seemed a bit fuzzy. On guard, the group stared around, looking for any sign of where the an attack could come from. But Crash didn't even bother, he just spun wildly around, quickly managing to find the invisible enemy, which he attacked from each side. The invisible growled before swatting away the tornado that was Crash Bandicoot.

"Don't tell us it is what I think it is" growled Silver as he felt the dark essence.

"It has to be" Naruto groaned.

Cortex laughed "It is, a new model Heartless all for me" he said as the heartless revealed itself, showing that it was a gigantic chameleon that stood in its hinder legs and had large frontal arms with sharp claws and the dark emblem on its chest…before disappearing once again.

"We told you not to tell us!" the hedgehog and the blond, shouted raising a fist at the evil tiny man.

Hearing the enemy's footsteps the group knew the heartless was somewhere else now, but as their eyes had all been on Crash they didn't know where it was. Thinking quickly Silver, using as mush chakra and skill as he could, summoned multiple lightning bolts in his hands, before launching them around, hitting every spot in the area, while just barely avoiding his friends. As luck would have it, many of the lightning bolts struck the invisible, as well as Cortex, who fell from the sky and into the side of the lab, Cortex landing on the ground with a thud and an exasperated groan.

With its cover blown, the invisible was punched in the gut, Naruto readied himself to attack as well, but stopped when he noticed how tired Silver looked.

"You alright?" Naruto asked, concerned.

"Yeah, but that attack cost me a lot of chakra. Don't worry, I'll be fine" he said. But just after he said this, Luigi was thrown onto him by the angry invisible, crushing the poor mobian.

"Hey, you can't just do that to my friends!" Naruto yelled to where he thought the invisible was, for it was once again invisible.

Luigi got up and carried Silver to the sidelines; Aku began using his healing magic on the injured hedgehog.

Naruto stared around, listening carefully for any sound of movement. However, the invisible was so quiet it was able to sneak up behind Naruto and flick him into the hillside. The invisible, now visible, prepared to strike Naruto with its large foot. Crash, thinking fast, threw a sharp flying kick at the chameleon's eye, which at least managed to distract it from Naruto, though now it was after Crash. The chameleon heartless charged at Crash, and would have squashed him if not for Silver using his psychic powers to hold it back. The invisible was held to the ground by the green psychic energy, and Naruto, Luigi and Crash took their chance to attack it.

Just as Naruto was about to strike the Keyblade into heartless' head, Silver, who had been struggling to hold down such a large and powerful creature with his mind, lost control of the invisible, which furiously swatted Naruto and Luigi away while attacking Crash with a strange, rainbow ray from its eyes. Crash panicked and ran away from the beam, which followed him around the lab, as another followed the Keyblade master…before both were struck down by them.

Silver tried desperately to subdue the heartless, but due to his weakened state he was knocked away by a swift strike from the invisible's tail. Angry, Luigi jumped and stomped on the chameleon's tail, and due to the surprising power of his legs, the invisible's tail was cut clean off, landing on the floor before vanishing into darkness. The heartless shrieked in agony at the loss of its tail and angrily turned towards the now scared plumber. The chubby short man simply stood in place; he was scared and unsure of what to do. And thus, in his moment of weakness, the invisible slammed his hand on the plumber, creating a large crater where the now badly bruised small hero was. Aku frantically pulled him back next to Silver with his magic, though this exhausted the mask.

The visible invisible turned to Naruto, who was trying to stay on his feet, with a hungry look in its eye. Naruto gulped before raising the Keyblade and yelling "I won't sell my heart cheap, you know"

But he soon heard the laugh of the evil scientist "Ha ha ha ha ha, don't you see yet? You've lost! Your friends are going to die, you can't do anything to save that plumber and the rat" Cortex taunted Naruto.

"He's a hedgehog!" the blond defended his friend. But at the same time, Naruto stared at his comrades; Crash had barely regained consciousness, but was in pretty bad shape just like him. Silver looked also very weak due to the great amount of energy he had used. Luigi was still badly injured from earlier, he was desperately trying to get up… but failing miserably. Aku was trying to help Luigi recover his health, but couldn't find the magic enough to help the plumber. Naruto gave a shocked and depressed gasp at the sight of his friends.

"You'll soon join them in death, and once I'm done with all of you the whole universe will soon know why I'm the great evil scientist Dr. Neo Cortex!" Cortex said to Naruto, then looked at the kid with a mocking smile "You're useless, I remember the last Keyblade master that came here, he was a great warrior, he actually deserved the Keyblade. But you, ha! You can't even save yourself, you're a lousy little brat" Cortex spat.

As the invisible prepared to squash Naruto, something finally snapped inside him. Naruto's mind seemed to grow…and suddenly he could see…everything. He chuckled "Oh really?"

And, before Cortex could respond, Naruto dashed to his right…and sliced off the invisible's right arm. And when everyone saw the now visible chameleon they turned to look at the blond…and gasped in shock. Naruto's eyes, which once were blue, were now a white tinted white…with veins popping around them.

"Sorry, but you can't hide from me anymore" he said holding the Nocturne Eye up.

"The key-chain!" Silver exclaimed "That…thing, it must have given him a new power!"

"And one that gave us a very hard time" grumbled Luigi as he remembered the beating he got from his fight with Neji.

"I'm going to make sure everyone can see the beating I'll give you!" shouted the blond as he lunged at the chameleon. Now with its advantage useless the heartless couldn't dodge the powerful slashes from the blond, and every time it tried to attack the young shinobi his attacks would either be deflected or avoided with ease…before the Keyblade stabbed him dead center in the chest "Away with you!" Naruto shouted as he stepped back, leaving the legendary blade in the chameleon's chest…before kicking it inside the heartless…who let out a final cry of pain…before vanishing.

The scared scientist stammered in fear "Uhh... I think I'll just be going. I'd better get rid of those heartless; they didn't work like I wanted them too" Said Cortex, who seemed dizzy. Cortex hastily left, Aku sensed that the darkness in the scientist's heart had dropped a great deal.

"Well, I guess that's that. I don't know where Coco could be, but we're in no shape to look for her, so for now let's go sa- Crash, where are you going!" Aku called urgently, for Crash had run straight into the another room. Though still weak from the fight, the trio followed the bandicoot inside the cave. The inside of the cave was like a circular room, there were lots of plants growing inside, and many butterflies on one part of the walls. Crash scared the butterflies off, revealing a hole shaped like a keyhole in the place they once sat peacefully upon.

"Crash... home" Crash said giddily.

"You can talk?" asked the shocked voodoo mask and Keyblade master, the first then noted something "Wait, this is your home?" Naruto asked, thinking what the bandicoot said was bizarre.

"Maybe this is where he was born" Luigi suggested, unable to think of any more likely possibility.

"Heart... here. Friends here" Crash said pointedly, Aku stared at the mutated fool until it hit him.

"Heart. So then, this place is a heart?" Aku asked suddenly a bit unsure. "No, wait, that is" Aku said, gesturing to the keyhole as best he could without arms "That keyhole leads to the heart of the world!"

"Oh, and I think I see what he means by friends being here, our friends are in our heart" Naruto said, holding his own heart, Silver and Luigi copied his actions as they saw his sad look "Oh... so then, Hinata and Satsuki aren't really here" Naruto said slowly and sadly.

"Not technically. But don't worry, if what Crash says means what I think it means, then your friends are fine. They're always with you, in your heart, no matter where you go. If you follow your heart, it will guide you to your friends, just believe in yourself" Aku said in a comforting, fatherly voice.

"Thank you" Naruto said with a smile to the wise mask. Crash tugged at his shirt and began making odd noises, pointing encouragingly to the Keyblade and then the keyhole.

"I think he wants you to seal the keyhole" Aku said, unsure how and why Crash knew about this.

"How do I do that?" Naruto asked clueless.

"Just point the Keyblade at the keyhole, it'll do the rest" Aku instructed. Naruto did as he was told and pointed the Keyblade at the keyhole, a thin beam of light suddenly formed from its tip and was shot into the keyhole. There was a loud click and the keyhole vanished, leaving behind an odd half-gear as it did so.

"Hey look, another of those gears! You think it's my brother's?" Luigi asked excitedly, Luigi picked up the gear and examined it.

"No" Silver said with a disappointed frown "This definitely isn't a type of gear Mr. Mario's ship could have. But let's keep it anyway, might be useful" he then turned to Naruto, rubbing that back of his head, the blond doing the same.

"Listen Silver, sorry for what happened before" Naruto said "The reason why I really care about Hinata and Satsuki is because…they're all I have"

"I'm sorry too" Silver said, then sighed "Now I know what you meant when you said that your Light Power might be important…you're an orphan, right?" the blond nodded, and the hedgehog sighed "Then now we're two"

"Huh?" asked the confused blond.

"I never met my parents…I always lived in a dangerous place, alone…until I met Blaze" the hedgehog said with a sad tone "She meant the world for me… but to stop the dangers in our world she sacrificed herself…yet we had the luck that after defeating the cause of our problem she came back…but I'll never forget the fear I felt…" he then hung his head low "I lost someone very dear to me, and seeing her doing so because of our mission…I thought this situation was the same…but it's not" he then looked up at the kid and smiled at him "Listen, from now on, our top priority is to find your friends, ok?"

Luigi smiled at this scene as Naruto's face brightened up "You mean it?" the kid asked.

"What are friends for?" Silver answered with a smirk.

"Yeah, all for one, one for all" Luigi cheered as he hugged his friends together.

Crash and Aku looked at the smiling trio with smiles of their own, the mask knew something: those three were great friends.

**XXXXXX**

**And done, sorry for taking so long, I was having a hard time deciding on what to do...so here it is, hope you like it!**


	8. Chapter 8

I OWN NOTHING, which makes me wish I was japanese, seriously, those guys are awesome

**XXXXXX**

The finger of justice

At the dark evil lair with the enormous crystal ball, the group of villains was looking at our heroes' happy reconciliation mildly impressed.

"What happened?" Ganondorf asked the shadowy figure "Surely, that darn so-called scientist could have finished them off"

"Yes" the figure nodded "However, his lust for power got the best of him. In the end it was his own carelessness and misuse of that power that caused his own downfall"

"Yeah!" Hazama laughed "Hehehehehe, he and those morons of his experiments were just another set of failures and trash! Hahahahahahahaha!"

"I give this guy power and he misused it" The shadow growled "What an idiot…to receive power and then throw it away" the figure said those last words with a lot of venom.

"Don't you get it?" Ganondorf groaned to the figure "A weak-hearted fool like him would have never stood a chance against the heartless. But that meddling shinobi child with the key is another story, he also found one of the keyholes. If he keeps finding them-"

"Do I look worried?" the shadow interrupted with a snap "Just relax, it will take that punk a million years to find them all. Besides, he's unaware of our other plans so that we can rule all worlds in pure darkness"

"The princesses?" Teisel asked.

"The very same" Medusa answered and snapped her fingers. Just then Coco stumbled upon the room, tied up.

The poor girl trembled like a leaf in the wind in front of the evil group "Crash…save me…" the bandicoot pleaded fearfully as all villains had crazy evil smirks all over their faces.

XXXXXX

Team Maelstrom noted a very sad Crash with Aku trying to cheer him up accompanying them as they arrived back at the Toad Express, which seemed as good as new. They got greeted by Toadsworth.

"Master Naruto, Master Luigi and Master Silver" the mushroom said happily "Thank goodness you three are okay. I saw everything that happened and I'm glad everything got for the better…well, in one part" he said when he saw the sad look on the bandicoot's face.

"If it wasn't for Crash here I would have been that tiger's food" Luigi said sadly as he wanted to help the poor guy.

But Silver surprised Naruto when he turned to the insane experiment and spoke kindly. The hedgehog, feeling kind of awkward as he knew how it felt but not the words to say rubbed the back of his head and spoke as best as he could "Hey…Crash, I know how you feel…so we will help you in any way we can, alright?" he said without much of an idea, but was surprised when the bandicoot's face brightened.

"Yeah, you can count on our Pasta Pummeling powers" Luigi said upper-cutting the air, making Crash giggle giddily.

"Count on us, we're your friends after all" the blond said with a warm smile.

"Friends…" Crash said, smiling once again. Then took something out of his pockets and gave it to Naruto, shocking Team Maelstrom:

"A key-chain!" the heroes and the mushroom exclaimed, the latter saying "Well, Master Naruto, care to give it a try?"

Naruto kindly accepted the key-chain, which was shaped like to look like Aku with green links for the chain. Taking out the Nocturne Eye key-chain and placing the new one Naruto and his friends grew wide-eyed at the new Keyblade. The handle was orange, the guard was circular, green and shaped like palm tree leafs, the handle seemed to be made of the same wood Aku was made of, and the teeth were actually two feathers, one red atop and one yellow below the first one.

The blond smiled "I'm going to call it the-"

"No ramen themed" Silver cut Naruto in, making him pout before adopting a thinking pose.

He snapped his fingers and proclaimed "I'm going to name it the Crazy Jungle blade" he then turned to his friends, Luigi holding a white board with a 9 on it, Silver one with a 8.5 and Toadsworth another with another 9, the blond pumped his fist in victory and turned to Crash, giving the bandicoot his famous goofy smile which the insane bandicoot returned "Thanks a lot, Crash. With this we'll save Coco in no time"

"Friends. Heart" Crash responded and high-fived Naruto.

The mushroom chuckled warmly at the nice scene "Good. Let's leave this world" Toadsworth said, before stopping and turning to them once again "Oh, and by the way, you won't believe what I found near the plane…" he told them as they entered the flying machine…and saw three all too familiar eggs, Chao eggs "Can't believe these poor creatures would fall in such a dangerous place"

"Hey, that reminds me!" Silver said as he snapped his fingers and suddenly the eggs he found appeared besides the others, Aku just did the same, only that he simply glowed a bit before the eggs appeared.

"Thanks a lot, Aku" the blond said as he made sure the eggs were safe, before turning to Crash and give him the thumbs up "Don't you worry, Crash, we will find Coco and bring her back…until then try to stay out of trouble"

As the bandicoot giggled happily the mask mumbled "Can't make any promises there" making the trio of heroes snicker a bit.

The group said goodbye to Crash and Aku before they calmly boarded the plane. The ship took off into space. Ten minutes later, the shinobi, psychic and plumber were discussing the Toad Express piece they found "It doesn't look like a normal piece of the ship" Silver stated observing the piece "It looks different"

"What could it be used for?" Naruto asked.

"I think maybe Itachi will know" Luigi said.

"Maybe, let's go back to Delfino Island and check" the blond announced.

"We might have to stop by another world first, so let's worry about that after we've checked everything" Toadsworth said.

That's when Naruto asked something the others never wanted to hear "Hey, how about I pilot the ship?"

"What?" Silver asked in shock, before frowning "After last time? Oh no thank you, I'd rather live longer"

"Come on, it can't be that hard" the blond said.

"For a normal person" the hedgehog retorted.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Naruto snapped.

The plumber sighed "Not again…" he said tiredly.

XXXXXX

"World ahoy!" the pilot's voice said through the intercom, taking Naruto's and Silver's attention from playing a race car videogame in the plane's screen, Luigi from finishing brushing his teeth and Toadsworth's from his green tea. The pilot continued "The world's name is Shibuya-cho, and you better be careful because many of my colleagues have said it is one different world"

"Well, we are still going" Naruto proclaimed and the others nodded their heads.

-**Shibuya-cho**-

Once out of the plane our heroes noticed something weird, both magical and mysterious…they had fallen. Apparently the plane's door had led them to an endless pit, and so far they were falling, yet not screaming, rather they were enjoying themselves. Why you may ask? Because they actually were floating down.

"This is awesome!" Naruto shouted as he and Luigi did some acrobatics while Silver was calmly in the lotus position while midair reading one of his books about the world they were in.

"Apparently Shibuya-cho has a different law than other worlds" he said as he read the pages "It says here that whoever enters will have to be forced upon the laws and physics of this world…and for some weird reason the author decided to write 'Be careful where the inhabitants step on'"

"Maybe they've got very big feet" Luigi commented in the middle of a flip, earning a shaking head from the hedgehog.

"Not likely, I'm sure it has to be something very dangerous" Silver commented rubbing his chin in thought.

"Well, we'll find out soon enough, I see the floor" Naruto said and stood midair to land safely on his feet. He landed with a bit of difficulty, as did Silver who used his psychokinetic powers to right himself up a bit…but Luigi had been in the middle of a back flip and so landed hard on his face. Once the plumber got up he noticed that his friends had looks of awe and gaping mouths, and he soon joined them when they noted where they were, and what was it that the book meant by the laws of the world.

"This is a waiting room, right?" Luigi asked as he tipped his hat up a bit to get a better look of the place.

"Yeah, and it seems we're in some sort of courthouse judging by the decoration" Silver noted.

"And is a very good looking place…" Naruto complimented, and gulped as he added "But…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"HOW DID WE GET SO SMALL?" the trio shouted.

The three stood in a waiting room from what really seemed a court. The windows had steel bars, the cream colored walls looked rather thick even if they were painted to look like normal ones, on one side there were two couches, on another was a table with some cups and a coffee machine, there was a plasma TV in one corner, and our three heroes were standing in a crystal coffee table, and since they were about the size of a mouse they walked around it with awe on their faces and inspected the symbols of and pictures of judges and anything themed with the law.

"Ok, there must be a reasonable explanation for this" a nervous Silver said with sweat dripping from his face as he flipped pages frantically.

"And here I thought I was already small" Luigi said depressed.

"This is so cool!" Naruto said in amazement as he looked all around, before turning to his friends with sparkles in his eyes "Guys, let's look for a ramen stand, I always wanted to swim in a gigantic bowl of ramen" he said with a dreamy stare and sparkles around at the idea of his dream coming true.

That cheered Luigi up "Oh, maybe we could pass by an Italian restaurant first, I gotta try the pizza if we're this size" he said mentally licking his lips at the idea of walking through a pizza the size of a park.

Silver snapped "Come on, we must find a way to at least be at our normal height, what would happen if the heartless don't shrink like us?"

"Um…you don't have to worry about that, fella" Luigi said as he aimed his vacuum behind Silver, and the hedgehog turned to see several shadows, soldiers, Large Bodies and new small floating heartless, the new ones seemed like wizards with pointy straw hats, a red or blue colored pot-like body and small crow like legs hanging, they were about a head's sizes so they didn't look threatening, until they shot fire and ice spells against the trio who barely dodged in time. Fortunately for our heroes the heartless had also shrunk.

"Alright, time to give this baby a test" Naruto said as he summoned his Crazy Jungle blade.

One of the red wizards approached Luigi, the plumber used his vacuum to trap the heartless inside before aiming it at a blue one who was too close for comfort, he then reversed the vacuum's gear and shot the trapped heartless against the other, the force of the impact was more than enough to make them vanish. He repeated this with any heartless nearby while delivering a kick to the shadows and soldiers that approached him.

Silver for his part dealt with most of the new wizard heartless using icy blasts or fiery jets of flames against the red and blue ones respectively. He didn't notice he was getting surrounded by shadows until they were covering any escape in a three feet radius. "Heh, think you've got me trapped?" he smirked and quickly went through hand signs, before slamming his hands on the ground and shocking his enemies when spikes of rocks and earth appeared from the glassy surface of the table and stabbed them to death, the spikes then returned to the 'soil' without leaving a hole in the table.

"I seriously need to learn that" the blond said to himself as he fought against the large bodies alone. He charged at the first head-on, and when the big heartless was about to slap him the shinobi jumped above the heartless' arm and stomped on its oversized belly, using his chakra to walk on the enemy he ran at the head and slashed it, making the heartless fall hard on its behind before the blond landed and stabbed its back, making it disappear.

Once the battle was over Naruto raised his Keyblade and shouted in excitement "We rock!"

"Hey, hey, calm down, Naruto" Silver calmly said "Remember that there might be a bigger heartless around, and those are the kind that kick our behinds rather hard"

"Well, we'll have to kick theirs harder" the blond said with a confident smirk.

The hedgehog face-palmed "Ok, I give up, how can you be so full of energy and optimism?"

"Let's leave the questions for later" Luigi advised as he heard something: "Someone's coming"

Then the doors burst open, and in came a very big man. For our heroes he was a giant, but in this world he was a normal six feet man, proportionally speaking. He seemed to be in his thirties, had a friendly aura around him yet also a kind of dumb look that could be described as clueless, had black hair with three spikes of said hair standing up on the right side of his skull, a pencil hung on his left ear, he had some hairs acting as a goatee and had a band-aid on the lower part of his left cheek. He wore a green trench coat in the need to visit a laundry, a white dress shirt that seemed cheap, a loosened red tie that had seen better days, simple jeans very worn, a belt and normal black shoes.

"Mr. Edgeworth, sir!" the man called out loud, forcing the heroes to cover their ears, not that because of his size their ears received a louder sound, but because he was really loud. He then looked around, his eyebrows following his eyes in a weird way, moving from one side to the other "Huh…I thought that Mr. Edgeworth was here…"

"Is everything alright, Detective Gumshoe?" called another man, this one was of normal height, proportionally speaking of course. He had a friendly face and seemed to be in his twenties, had blue eyes and black hair, said hair was combed back in several spikes that remembered Silver of a certain blue hedgehog he once met, and his eyebrows seemed to be shaped like lightning rays. The man wore a simple blue business suit with a white shirt, red tie and black shoes. On his coat he had a badge, a golden badge that the trio recognized as the one used by attorneys judging by the symbol on it.

"Oh, it's you pal!" the shaggy man, Gumshoe, exclaimed and then waved his big arms around with a nervous look on his face "I've been looking all over for Mr. Edgeworth yet found no hair nor hide from him. I checked and turned every stone and even the paintings to find him and it seems that he's gone. I even looked in the ventilation system and-"

"Ok, Detective Gumshoe, please calm down" the man said a bit nervous, then made a sad look "Well, it seems we'll have to wait a bit more for the trial to start"

"I'm sorry, pal…" the shaggy detective said with his head hanging low and a look of pity "Listen, if it helps you out I believe she didn't do it, after all she could never do something like that since she's a lot smarter than me, even if I'm pretty dumb…wait a minute…"

"Pffft…" the three shrunk heroes had a hand on their mouths as they tried real hard not to burst in laughter…unfortunately they were caught by the guy in blue.

"Huh?" he said as he walked at the three with a curious look.

"Damn!" Naruto cursed, and then had an idea from the in-flight movie about two toys, a cowboy and a space guardian trying to return to their home "Guys, stand still, try to act as if we were toys!"

"You really liked that movie, huh?" Silver commented as he and his friends stood as if they were figurines. Naruto stood with his Crazy Jungle blade above his head in a horizontal position with a brave face on, kind of like He-man; Silver stood with his open palms in front of him, a serious look on his face and acting as if he were casting some spell, and Luigi just stood with his vacuum aimed at the air, a nervous-confident smile as he tried hard to remain still.

The man inspected them closely "What are these? Are they Maya's new Steel Samurai figurines or something?" he asked, then shrugged "Well, I'll take them to her, if they're not hers then I'll simply put them with the lost and found stuff" And with that said the man took them and put them in his coat's pocket, forcing them to fall over each other.

"Man, lay off the noodles, you two weight a ton" Silver said.

"Naruto, take your feet off my nose, it's hard to breath" Luigi said gasping a bit.

"Would if I could get Silver off my back" Naruto said as the three tried hard not to crush each other while not drawing attention from the man, mainly because of being inside the man's pocket "Well, the good side is that we'll get a free tour through this place"

"No, the good side would be if you two didn't eat as much as a whole army" Silver said while trying to get his two friends off him, being the smallest and having the two of them who could eat non-stop on top of him was torturing his back.

XXXXXX

After a whole minute of trying to get off themselves like in a Twister game our heroes finally made it so they could have their heads out of the man's coat pocket, looking to the place they were in with awe. They memorized the waiting room they had been in thanks to them getting out just in time to see the number on the door. So far they enjoyed the decorations which were quite nice for a house of justice…until…

*Crack!*

"Yeow!" the man yelped in pain as he stepped back from whatever hit him, the heroes almost fell out had they not hold onto the fabric of his coat.

"It seems you're as foolishly foolish as always, Mr. Phoenix Wright" said a sadistic, but young and female voice.

"Ah…you're…*Crack!* Owwwww!" the man in blue, now identified by whoever hit him as Phoenix Wright, stuttered in clear shock and fear, not that our heroes blamed him after seeing what had hit him.

The one who had hit Phoenix was a young woman not even twenty years old. She had light blue short hair, eyes and lipstick. She had a black vest over a white dress shirt with very puffy shoulders; a big white ribbon held in place with a blue diamond shaped button, black leather gloves and a black mini-skirt with beige thighs and heeled black boots. But what called our heroes' attention the most was that on her right hand she was tightly gripping a leather whip's handle while the other had a part of the unusual weapon wrapped around.

The woman scowled at Phoenix and pointed a finger at him "How could someone be such a foolishly foolish fool to forget someone like me, Franziska von Karma?" she said with no small amount of pride.

The heroes and the man dead-panned, sweating bullets and thinking at the same time _'Then first let him/me finish a sentence!_' they mentally scolded. Phoenix asked "Anyways, what are you doing here?"

"Oh, isn't that obvious?" she asked with a victorious smirk "I'm here to defeat you since Miles Edgeworth is not here, too bad for him to lose a chance to beat you, Mr. Phoenix Wright, a chance that I'll use full-force to make you look like the foolish fool you are in this courthouse!"

"So Edgeworth is not he- *Crack!* Yeouch!"

Luigi and the others had a pained look on their faces "That one even hurt me" he muttered and his friends nodded.

"Now listen here, Mr. Phoenix Wright, you better expect me to win in a perfect way because we of the von Karma family are to achieve perfection in every way" Franziska said before turning away and walking off to the courtroom.

"Man…she's evil" Naruto deadpanned.

"Ugh… tell me about it" Phoenix said, before lifting his head up in surprise and look around "Who said that?" he asked as the heroes ran back into their hiding place, the hedgehog glaring at the boy who gave a sheepish apologetic smile.

XXXXXX

Phoenix had entered the courtroom he was supposed to be, the heroes looked at the well made wooden tables that faced each other at opposite sides where the judge took his seat, and behind said tables were the jury in their respective seats as well as the people who was supposed to be in there. And in front of all of that was the seat for those accused of a crime, looking at that small place and seeing how bigger the other seemed our heroes felt sorry for whoever was there and were innocent, it gave a feeling of powerlessness, but that's the law for you.

Our heroes noticed the judge in his place, an old bald man about his sixties with a Santa Claus gray beard and a kind yet dumb look in his eyes, as if he were a kid yet also a man of wisdom. He had his gavel resting in his hands as he rested it in his open left palm while giving both Phoenix and Franziska a serious look that meant business.

"The court is now in session for the trial of Maya Fey" the judge calmly stated.

"The prosecution is ready, Your Honor" Franziska said, making the judge go wide-eyed, as well as drawing the attention from everyone in the courtroom.

"The defense is ready, Your Honor" Phoenix said, though the judge was much more focused on Franziska.

"Ms…Ms. Von Karma, what are you doing here?" the perplexed judge asked as our heroes now wondered what was the deal with that sadistic whip woman…though they didn't wonder for long: "I had understood that you were the victim in this case, I can't allow you to be- *Crack!* Owwwwie! Ok, don't mind me, just state your business" the judge cried, guess authority means nothing against a crazy woman with a whip in hand.

"What kind of a crazy woman is that whip lady?" Naruto asked in a dead-pan.

"The kind that makes one feel better for finding a good gal" Luigi commented.

*Crack!* "Yeow! What did I do?" Phoenix asked as he got the whip again.

Franziska's scowl grew "I heard what you were mumbling about, so don't feign ignorance!"

"But I didn't say- *Crack* Ouch!"

'_Oops_' mentally said Naruto and Luigi as they gave Silver, who was glaring at them, apologetic looks after almost blowing their cover once again.

*Crack* this time Franziska hit her table "As for asking why am I here, the reason should be pretty obvious. I'm here to put behind bars the one who attempted to steal my heart"

"WHAT?" our heroes and the whole crowd asked in shock, the trio thanking the uproar didn't blow their cover.

Franziska nodded "As said before I was attacked by someone who attempted to take my heart from me, it happened last night in this very same courthouse, I was simply cleaning my whip in the prosecution's waiting room when it all happened, but the attacker failed when I landed a good strike with my trusty whip. Said person ran away and I called the dumb officer that was nearby, Detective Scruffy"

"Scruffy…? Wait, you mean Detective Gumshoe?" the judge asked with a bit of surprise, our heroes feeling sorry for the poor guy as he had been insulted in the middle of a trial.

"That's right, that useless detective at least proved some worth by capturing the attacker, none other than the defendant herself, Maya Fey" Franziska said, before smugly smirking at Phoenix "And that's all you need to know, as there was no way in or out of the waiting rooms in this courthouse save for the door, which the attacker used to escape, and no one else besides the defendant and the detective were at the building"

"I see" the judge said with wide eyes and a kind of dumb look, before stupidly stating "So your attacker had to be the defendant, and no one else, well, with my wits I can finally close this case and-"

"OBJECTION!" Phoenix shouted, his arm stretched and his index finger pointing at the lady prosecutor "In your story you never mentioned how the attacker looked like!"

"Argh!" Franziska growled as she stepped back, as if Phoenix's words had hit her.

"Furthermore, how can you just state that my client was your attacker when you didn't even recognize her until after she was captured, which happened after you gave the alarm, she could just have entered the building at that time and stumble upon Detective Gumshoe!"

"OBJECTION!" Franziska shouted while whipping her desk "It still doesn't change the fact that the defendant was the only one besides Scruffy in the courtroom. And what's more, in my hands I have a photo of her when she entered the courthouse at the exact time of the attack!" she said in triumph, showing a photo of someone entering the place.

"WHAT?" asked a shocked Phoenix as he stepped back, as if he was hit too, this made the heroes wonder how did the psychics of this world work if lawyers got hit by countering others.

"Guys…" Naruto whispered, and Silver knew he wouldn't like this "We've gotta help him, it's obvious it had to be the heartless"

"Yeah…but we'd be breaking the world order" Luigi said looking down with a sad look.

"And that's a law we cannot break" Silver said equally sadly, though he too wanted to help.

The judge just nodded "Well, with this clear proof of the defendant entering the room I can only ask the defense if they have anything to object"

"I…I…" Phoenix started to say, trying to counter Franziska, but he didn't find any clue of what happened even after searching the whole place, whoever the attacker was seemed to come and get out of the shadows. He hoped he could ask for Edgeworth to give him some more time to look for clues, but somehow Franziska managed to replace him…his bad luck seemed to go worse when the judge disapprovingly shook his head.

"Well, since the defense is speechless all I can do is to give my verdict. The jury finds the defendant, Maya Fey-"

"OBJECTION!" shouted a new trio of voices…from Phoenix's pocket. Naruto, Silver and Luigi jumped out from the pocket and landed on the desk, shocking the whole audience. The shinobi, the plumber and the hedgehog had their arms stretched out and their index fingers pointing at Franziska…feeling kind of cool.

"Your Honor, we know who did this" the blond said.

"Yeah, it was the heart-" Luigi said, quickly covering his mouth before blowing their cover…even more.

The kid cleared his throat and looked at the judge "Anyways…whoever is this Maya Fey she didn't do it"

*CRACK!*

Everyone turned to see a royally pissed off Franziska, her desk having large cracks from the whip's impact "You foolishly foolish shrunken fools who foolishly try to ruin my perfect victory with this foolish story!" she said in barely contained rage, before calming down and pointing at them "It doesn't matter if you're some kind of magical beings or something of the sort, all that matters is that you have the evidence to back your words in this courthouse, that's the law"

"Evidence…" Naruto hummed, before turning to the judge "Hey, old man"

"Umm…yes?" the shocked judge said as he was still in awe like the rest of the people at seeing three little beings talking to them.

Naruto nodded "Yeah, you, could you give me and my friends a little time to look for evidence?"

"Hmm…" the judge was in deep thought, his eyes closed showed his focus, before he gave the trio of small heroes a serious look "I may have no idea of who or what you three little guys are, but to claim to know who is the attacker and that you can find the clues is something rather odd…but nevertheless I see no way you'd be lying, nor a reason why you would want to help or do a bad deed, so I'm trusting you with finding these clues…you have one hour, no more no less, if you don't come back here with those clues then I'm afraid I will not give the defendant a very good verdict" he then turned to Franziska "Is that alright with the prosecution?" he asked in all seriousness.

Franziska smirked in triumph "Fufufu…It's alright, because I clearly doubt they'll be able to find any clue, unless it is forged evidence" she cackled evilly, before pointing at Phoenix "Mr. Phoenix Wright!"

The man trembled "Y-Yeah? *Crack!* Ow! What was that for?"

"That's a small taste of what you'll get if these foolish fools show how foolishly foolish they are by bringing no evidence" she said evilly.

Silver dead-panned "Man, doesn't she knows any other word besides 'fool'? *Crack!* Yeow! That hurt!"

"The same goes for you three, and I'll let you know I wasn't going seriously with that hit" Franziska warned making our heroes grimace.

The judge slammed his gavel "We'll have an hour of recess to let these little beings find their clues"

XXXXXX

The trio was now in the defense's waiting room, standing in the coffee table, in front of them was Phoenix with a thankful smile and Gumshoe, who dumbly looked at them in awe.

"You three don't know how much I thank you" Phoenix said to the three little heroes, before rubbing his chin in thought "Although I must admit I never expected to see anything like you three…even if in this courthouse I've dealt with spirits"

"Spirits?" asked a panicking Luigi as he gripped his vacuum, he certainly didn't like ghosts.

"That's because of an Ace spirit medium like yours truly" said a new voice with no amount of shame.

The heroes turned to see a girl a few years older than Naruto with black eyes and a playful face, she had long black hair that reached her waist, had to bangs held in purple balls, a topknot atop her head held by a purple ring and the tip of her hair held by another purple ring. She wore a japanese purple kimono wide open, beneath it she wore a white female kimono with a short skirt and with a purple obi holding it closed. She had black sandals, a necklace made of very big pearls with a pink magatama hanging from it and bracelets. She was definitely a spirit medium, a japanese kind of priest one.

The girl leaned down to look at them better "Wah, so cool! You three are like figurines from the Steel Samurai show!"

"Well, thanks" Naruto said rubbing the back of his head before introducing himself and his friends "I'm Naruto, and these are my friends Silver and Luigi"

"A pleasure to meet ya all" Luigi said lifting his hat up.

"Same here…well, kinda" Silver said before turning to Naruto "You know we just broke a major law, don't you?"

"Well, we did so to help this Maya girl" The blond responded scratching his head in a bit of embarrassment.

"Wait, you guys are helping me?" the girl asked.

"Then you're Maya, huh?" Luigi asked.

Maya nodded "You bet, I'm the cute and awesome spirit medium of legends as well as Phoenix's assistant"

Silver and his friends sweat-dropped "You know…I can't picture someone legendary working as an assistant, no offense"

"None taken" Maya said with a smile before pulling Phoenix closer, eliciting a blush from him as she pointed at him "This guy is a very big legend in this courthouse, he has resolved a lot of cases with a very big amount of luck and saved a lot of innocent persons"

The hedgehog and his friends' sweat-drops grew "You know…winning just by luck ain't that reassuring" Silver stated before getting serious "Anyways, we better get informed about this whole deal, otherwise we won't have a clue of what's happening. So, how did you get in this mess, Maya?"

"Hmm, let me see…" Maya said, before a small blush came to her cheeks and she shook it off "Well, I was going to give someone a present, and I thought that person would be here…and that's when I bumped into Detective Gumshoe…all I remember next is Miss von Karma arriving and calling me the attacker of something foolish"

Gumshoe hung his head low "Sorry, had I known what would have happened I'd let you go, pal" he then turned to the heroes "Anyway, pals, I know for a fact she didn't do it, I've had her and Mr. Wright sneaking around my watch in the crime scenes, resolving a lot of cases to help someone innocent, it's just impossible she might have attacked someone"

Naruto chided in "Um…I may not be that much into law, but a detective having an attorney and his assistant sneaking in a crime scene just doesn't makes it as a detective"

"Um, uh…well…hey, at least I've got great tracking abilities" the man defended himself as he looked around his pockets "Check what I found in the ventilation system and the gardens!" he said and handed the heroes something that made them go wide-eyed.

"Chao eggs!" the three exclaimed.

"Huh? Chao?" Phoenix asked, before shrugging it off "You know what, I don't care, this case is just getting weirder and weirder"

"Oh, but we could make a killer omelet with these" Maya retorted.

"No!" the heroes exclaimed, the blond speaking up "Those eggs are from someone who cares for the creatures born inside them as if they were her family, so please, give them to us"

"Aw, and here I thought I'd finally eat something more besides instant noodles" Gumshoe whined as he handed the heroes the eggs, all nine of them.

As Silver immediately put the eggs in hammer-space Luigi rubbed his stomach at the thought of noodles "Well, I wouldn't complain, it's the beauty of pasta"

Silver groaned "Let's talk about something that doesn't have noodles, being with you and Naruto makes one see enough in a lifetime" he said before turning to the detective "Hey big guy, now that I remember, who's this Edgeworth guy? You were looking for him as well as Phoenix"

"Yeah pal, Mr. Edgeworth is just the best prosecutor in this world" Gumshoe said with a bright smile.

"But Phoenix has beaten him a lot of times" Maya said with a smile, making Gumshoe depressed.

"You always manage to put salt to the injury, pal" the detective said.

Seeing as the two were busy Phoenix turned to the trio "Anyways, Edgeworth was the one supposed to be in the prosecution's table for this trial but somehow Franziska took his place, and that's the bad news here"

"Yeah, that whip left a mark" Silver said as he lifted his white mane and showed them a red horizontal line that made Naruto and Luigi hiss in pain at the sight.

Phoenix frowned "You were lucky" he said and lifted his shirt, gaining a blush from Maya, to show them even much more marks that seemed a lot of times much more painful "And some of these are from the trial from one week ago, and she wasn't in the prosecution" he stated while putting his clothes in place.

"I was right, she's evil" Naruto said as he and his friends looked fearfully at the museum of pain.

Phoenix nodded and continued "And that's not the worse, she'd do anything to win and defeat me, even use forged evidence"

"Hypocrite" the blond muttered before turning to the others "Well, what are we waiting for? We gotta find these clues" he then turned to Phoenix "So, where did the attack take place? If the attacker is who we think and know it is then there might be a clue we could detect"

"Well, you're a handy bunch, pals" Gumshoe said and put his open palm on the table "Hop aboard, I'll take you three there" the heroes did that and grabbed on to the detective's fingers when he lifted them up before turning to Phoenix "Are you coming Mr. Wright, pal?"

"Yeah" the attorney said, before turning to Maya "Maya, stay in here until the trial is over, I'm afraid of what Franziska might do if she gets too angry"

"Aw, but I want to find who put me in here to give him a piece of my mind" the girl said and Phoenix shook his head.

"Sorry, but for your own safety it'd be better if you stayed here, besides, if you were to enter the prosecution's room then Franziska would do more than use her whip"

She looked down, before smiling at him "Alright, I trust in you Nick, so do your best!" she cheered for him…the girl and the lawyer not aware of the snickers from the detective and the trio in his hand.

XXXXXX

Since the lawyer and the police had examined the room through and through our heroes wisely decided to look where no man the size of those giants would, so Naruto took on the ceilings with his chakra, checking lamps and the portraits in the walls too, Silver used his telekinesis to move around and use the altitude to find new clues as well as enter higher places and move heavier objects, Luigi dreaded his part since he wasn't able to hover or wall-walk, so he used the lamp installed to his vacuum to look in a small hole which was a hideout for the mice, he walked without disturbing the rodents but he still didn't like dark places when he remembered the haunted mansion.

After some good time Naruto found a piece of leather covered in a dark substance that was definitely a heartless' skin attached behind one of the portraits. Silver had been dismantling the TV set and found a black nail with a dark aura. Luigi for his part found a piece of an antenna from a shadow heartless that a small mouse had been chewing, he didn't want to know what happened to the rest of the heartless and booked it out.

"Alright, this should be enough to save Maya!" Naruto cheered. As he and the other stood in Gumshoe's hand and went to the courtroom…only to be stopped by someone.

"I think you'll need more than those clues, kid" a man said. This man had short silver gray hair slicked back with two bangs at the side of his forehead, sharp eyes and wore a black vest, a red coat with matching pants, black shoes and a white frilly cravat. He was the same age as Phoenix and while the attorney's face spoke about kindness this guy's spoke about punishment if you pissed him off…and judging by the prosecution badge on him he was definitely good at his job.

"Mr. Edgeworth, sir, what are you doing here?" asked a shocked Gumshoe.

"Hey, where have you been all this time? And what do you mean we need more than these clues?" Phoenix demanded.

"So this is Edgeworth…" Naruto mused to himself, before stating "So you're the one that whip lady replaced…why would you need to be replaced?" the boy asked curiously as the man nodded.

"That is the correct question to make here" the prosecutor stated "I was inspecting around here for more clues and I was gladly rewarded with the last one…however when I held it in my hands I just lost consciousness, after that all I remember is that I woke up in a clinic nearby"

"So you were attacked" Naruto said in a bit of alarm thoughtfully before turning once again to the man and asking "So what was it that hit you?"

Edgeworth shook his head "I don't know, I just simply lost consciousness…"

Naruto thought a bit more…until it hit him! "I got it!" he exclaimed snapping his fingers before turning to Gumshoe "Hey, big guy, could you lift me to this guy's head?"

"Um…sure" the detective said "With your permission Mr. Edgeworth"

"Not a problem" the prosecutor said as he lowered his head and Naruto jumped unto it, running his fingers on the hair in the back of Edgeworth's head…before smiling.

"Here it is!" the blond said "This is the final piece of evidence!" he proclaimed as he raised a splinter, but not any splinter mind you, this one was surrounded by a black aura of darkness, for the kid the splinter was at least the size of a stake.

"Nice use of logic" the prosecutor complimented before giving the boy a serious look "But I should warn you, I doubt the attacker will like his identity being revealed, and I still fear one small fact about this. The fact that Franziska didn't see how the attacker looked like nor that said attacker was found still troubles me"

Naruto nodded "Well, we'll have nothing to worry about, since it is what I know it is then me, Silver and Luigi will take it down with no sweat"

The hedgehog silently mumbled "Why do I feel he'll regret saying that?"

Phoenix looked at the confident blond and smiled brightly "Now we have enough proof that there was someone attacking people here" he proclaimed before turning to Naruto who once again rode Gumshoe's hand "I certainly can't thank you enough, you three"

The blond rubbed the back of his head "Well, you could say it's our job" he said with a sheepish smile. Then he turned to the hedgehog and the plumber "Now let's get this job done" his friends, the detective and the two lawyers nodded and headed to the courtroom.

XXXXXX

Back in the courtroom Naruto and his friends were in the prosecution's table with a pink box in hand, said box contained all of the evidence gathered so far as well as the new one. The blond turned to the judge "You Honor, we have the required evidence here" the boy said holding the pink box up.

Franziska took a look at it with curiosity and surprise. She didn't expect them to actually be able to find anything "Very well then. Open it up. Let's see what's inside" She said.

"What about the magic words?" the blond snapped.

"Why do you need magic words when you have a whip?" the prosecutor snapped back.

"Ok, just asking" the blond said nervously as he opened the box, the people noted the black auras and the antenna as well as the skin move…before merging in the box…and out came a soldier Heartless, shocking everyone in the courtroom. As soon as it was free it ran towards Franziska and tried to take her heart signaling its hunger with the gripping motions its claws made for her chest.

"Aughh! Protect me!" She yelled while putting her hands up defensively…only to blink in surprise when a dash slashed through the heartless and returned to Naruto's hand, showing it was his Keyblade.

"There's your proof, now let Maya go!" the blond said…and soon regretted it.

"You…" Franziska growled, shaking in rage…and a dark aura surrounding her…before she shouted "YOU RUINED MY PERFECT TRIAL!"

*CRAAAAAAAAAAACK!*

The trio of shrunken heroes was blown back as the whip destroyed the desk they were in, falling hard on the merciless hard ground. Slowly getting back to their feet they saw that the dark aura surrounding Franziska grew and grew while the people in the room booked it, the only ones besides them and the darkness possessed prosecutor in the room were Phoenix, Edgeworth, Gumshoe and the judge.

"Order! Order!" the judge shouted as he slammed his gavel "Ms. Von Karma, cease this right n- *CRACK!* Owwwwwwwwie! Ok, time for me to run!" and the judge booked it as well.

Franziska slowly walked up to the group of law enforcers and shrunken heroes as the aura surrounding her kept on growing…before it split from her body, letting a now unconscious Franziska fall down. Edgeworth acted fast and grabbed her, carrying her with Gumshoe's help as Phoenix stood staring disbelievingly at the dark mass in front of him.

"What is that thing?" the lawyer asked.

"Bad news" Naruto responded as he and his friends got ready to fight "Edgeworth, big guy, take the whip lady out of here, we'll take care of this freak! Phoenix, go with them, you wouldn't stand a chance!"

"What about you?" the worried lawyer asked as he didn't want to see his three small friends in pain.

"Don't worry, we may be small but we can sure kick this creep's ass! Now get out of here!" The blond commanded.

Phoenix slowly nodded and helped the other two with Franziska "Be careful you three!" and with that said he left the room.

The dark mass of shadows started to take form; soon arms were shaped as well as a head before its body took a better consistence. Then in front of them stood a new heartless. This one was the size of a seven feet tall man in this world, its head was a Templar knight's helmet, completely black but with the heartless' emblem instead for the cross on the face. Its whole body was just a big black red-trimmed judge's robe that hung from the helmet that was permanently closed with two long sleeves and two black boots for feet, black dark claws for hands held the creature's weapons, on its left was a gavel, and on its right was something the heroes didn't want to see.

"What is it with this courthouse and whips?" the hedgehog moaned as he took notice of what the heartless held in his right hand.

The blond ignored his friend's comment and pointed at the Judge heartless "So you're the one behind this, you creep?" the blond asked, clearly pissed off "You framed Maya, attacked Edgeworth and even possessed the whip lady to put someone innocent behind bars!" Naruto summoned his Keyblade and glared at the heartless "I'm going to kick your ass, you fetishist!"

A tick mark appeared on the heartless' forehead at the term the blond used to describe him, it was not its fault that the heart it used to take a form liked whips so much, but as a dark being he had to take a form. So it angrily raised the gavel and attempted to smash the group, the three wisely dashed out of the way as the tiles on the floor cracked and gave way to the gavel, which with a closer look was definitively made of steel, as it made a big hole in the ground.

"You just had to anger him, didn't you?" Silver shouted to the blond angrily while flying through hand signs, yet thinking '_Though I agree with the fetishist part_'

"Here he comes!" Luigi shouted when the heartless jumped and attempted to stomp on them, the trio had once again been wise enough to dash away.

The Judge started the fight by sending his whip down at the heroes with an amazing speed. The shrunken Team Maelstrom dived away as Silver reassumed his series of hand signs before holding a lightning bolt in hand, sending it at the evil gigantic judge. Unfortunately, the lightning didn't seem to even create a bit of static in the robe.

"My spells aren't working!" Silver shouted in shock while he jumped back to avoid the whip.

"Then we'll just have to try old mano-a-mano!" Naruto said.

The judge tried, once again, to smash the whiskered kid with his gavel. As it came closer to Naruto, Luigi jumped in at the last second and stopped the gavel with both hands, holding it up with his full might. The Judge struggled to break free, but the small plumber was too strong. Taking his chance, Naruto ran up to the captured limb and ran up to the head using his chakra to avoid falling and gaining the extra needed speed cut it off with the Keyblade. The Judge could only watch when the blond delivered a powerful slash to its face, proving it was the heartless' weak spot when it roared in pain as he was hit full force and stumbled back.

"Looks like that did it" Luigi said.

How wrong he was. The judge got his footing back and lashed out a wave of whip strikes at the heroes. Naruto and Luigi had no way of avoiding it. Luckily, Silver jumped in front and created a force field with his psychokinetic powers to protect them.

"Now what?" the blond asked.

"We have to find a way past its attacks and right to his head" Silver said.

"But how?" Luigi asked.

"I have an idea" Silver smirked.

When the Judge let down its whip Silver let down his barrier as well. Luigi then was atop at least a hundred Naruto's, the clones were in a pyramid with the one on top holding the plumber over his shoulder. "Up you go!" the original kid shouted as he launched Luigi at the heartless, the plumber having his fist reeled back.

"Take this!" Luigi yelled, his fist started to crack with lightning as even if he didn't know how to use chakra, lightning was a natural affinity he had. He powered his muscles and delivered a powerful hook downwards, forcing the head down to the ground…right into the army of Naruto's.

"Get him!" the original yelled as he and the clones brought the Keyblade down and stabbed, slashed and even punched the Judge in the head. The massive heartless could only roar in pain as it tried to shake get back up, but Naruto wouldn't let that happen if half the army holding the beast down was anything to go by. After a few minutes of struggle, the Judge let one final roar of pain…

And then vanished. The heroes looked in relief the big heart floating up, taking back their breaths as Naruto let himself fall in his behind after his clones had dispelled themselves, right now a good thirty bowls of ramen would do him just fine… and that's when he felt something weird in his hand, the Keyblade.

"Huh?" the kid asked, before the blade pulled him forcefully "Hey, wait up!" he said and soon his friends followed him until arriving in front of the judge's stand, where now a light started to bright, before a keyhole took place. Before anyone could say anything the Keyblade emitted a familiar ray of light that flew into the keyhole as a strange clicking sound was heard and it disappeared…leaving another of those weird half-gears.

"A Toad Express gear?" Luigi asked while inspecting it.

Naruto inspected the Keyblade "This baby just keeps on giving me surprises"

**XXXXXX**

**And done! Now, I wanted to end it here because the next chapter will be awesome! Get ready for big fights…and a new comrade joining our heroes!**


	9. Chapter 9

I OWN NOTHING, though I do own some crazy ideas, yohohohohoho!

**XXXXXX**

The return and the joyful bones

"So freaking tired" Naruto complained as he let his ass fall in the plane's chair, Silver and Luigi doing the same as he sighed "Man, I've gotta work more on my chakra control"

Silver nodded "Yeah, I should too. Climbing our way up to the plane was harder than I thought…I don't even know how we found it after getting lost in the mice's hideout"

Luigi chided in "That's because we ran like the devil were hot on our heels when the mice got hungry and looked at us like my brother does with meatballs" he said while wiping his forehead.

They sighed in unison, getting to the Toad Express wasn't easy because of how they had magically shrunken, then they had no idea of how to get up so they decided to climb with Naruto's wall-walking, Silver's hovering and Luigi's jumping, along the way they sadly found the mice's nest and soon were chased by the rodents until, somehow, they stumbled upon the plane, and now here they are.

At least they were happy the trial did go all well and that Maya was innocent, but they still had some questions to make to Itachi in Delfino Island, such as not only the gear but those keyholes that Naruto's weapon kept on locking. Aku did say it was a way to the world's heart, but sadly the mask had no idea of what that meant or what it could do, it seemed the keyhole was a lot older than the voodoo spirit by a long shot. So that made looking for Itachi, the one who obviously had the most info about the heartless affair, the only option they had.

XXXXXX

"Jump, jump, jump!" Silver shouted.

"Attack, fire, come on!" Naruto yelled.

*BOOM!*

"**Game over…**" a dark evil sounding voice said as the two hung their heads down. The two gave a sigh of tiredness as the plane's screen showed them their highest scores while Luigi watched behind and tried cheering for them while Toadsworth was busy with the journal while also taking a glance to the game.

"Oh man, Contra sure is hard" Naruto whined as he threw his controller in his seat and gave a tired sigh.

Silver mimicked the blonde's actions and said "At least we got to the alien hive without dying" he then turned to the cabin, shouting for the pilot to hear him across the door "How much until we arrive to the island?"

The intercom answered "We're about to land, please fasten your safety belts as we're about to descend" and with a quick nod they all sat in their place, waiting for their arrival. After a safe landing our heroes took a boat and headed on to look for the weasel themed man, only problem was they didn't have the slightest clue as to where he could be, though the Keyblade Master started to enjoy more the place now that the heartless were giving him a rest as the sun shone brightly.

"Man, this surely is a great place" he said looking at the statue in the main plaza, then wondered out loud "You think that we might have some statues made in our honor after we're done with the heartless?" he asked his two friends with a big grin in his face showing how he was picturing himself in a brave pose as a statue.

Silver waved it off yet had a grin in his face while his eyes were closed "They certainly wouldn't do it because we need to keep our mission a secret" then he opened his eyes and grinned some more "Though I bet I'd look amazing immortalized in solid platinum" he said as he watched the statue with Naruto, both the hedgehog and the kid imagining themselves in its place made out of shining metal.

Luigi looked at them before shrugging with a sigh "Kids these days" he said and turned…only to raise a brow "Don't I know you?" he asked.

"You bet!" came a cheerful response from a voice Naruto remembered:

"Tenten!" the blond shouted and ran to her.

"How are you doing, oh great Keyblade Master?" the bun haired girl asked with a big playful grin which the blond returned.

"Pretty good" Naruto said before giving a foxy cocky smirk "We've entered a tournament of heroes and won against a really strong guy and beat an enormous robot"

Luigi added his two cents with a happy smile "Fell into a very crazy jungle and beat a gigantic chameleon heartless"

Silver ended it with a big prideful smile "And we went into a world of giants where we fought the biggest heartless anyone could ever imagine"

The three then pointed to themselves with their thumbs and said in perfect unison "And we looked cool" with the biggest smirks you'd ever see in them.

Tenten giggled "Boy, you three sure got modest out there" she said with a hearty laugh before getting a bit serious, though her smile was still there "By the way, Itachi has been looking for you"

"Well, that's convenient" Naruto said with a hand on his chin "Could you tell us where he is?"

"Sure, last I checked he went over to his secret training area" Tenten pondered "He trains there like his life depended on it…he sure needs a girl" she sighed out, making the trio of heroes sweat-drop.

"Yeah…How do we get there?" Luigi awkwardly asked.

"Go to the hotel you met Kushina, in the basement there's a very big casino" The girl explained "When you enter the first thing you'll notice is the biggest roulette you'll ever lay eyes on, go over it and pound a purple panel, that will lead you to the entrance, the rest is just as easy as following the path"

Naruto then raised his hand as if he were a kid in a classroom "Um…but why is there such a thing like that in a casino?" he asked awkwardly, his friends nodding.

The bun haired girl just shrugged "Beats me, all I know is that a friend of ours helped to build the place for whatever reason he wanted, and he let the training area for Itachi since both he and I are the only ones who keep this place safe as best we can"

"Man, that sounds harsh" Luigi muttered "Reminds me of all the crazy travels me and my brother did to protect our kingdom. Hey, speaking of travels, maybe we should check out the places around here, I mean, we do have some business to take care of" At that Naruto and Silver nodded, remembering they had to deliver the eighteen Chao eggs they found, so without further ado the three bid farewell to Tenten and headed to meet Itachi, but not before a short stop.

XXXXXX

Our heroes walked towards the nursery besides the lighthouse, though things were a bit too quiet for their liking as no sound was heard and night was starting to arrive. Naruto had led his two companions to Vanilla's home, knocking on the nursery they were greeted by a mini-version of the mobian rabbit "Greetings, how may I help you?" asked the cute eight years old little rabbit girl.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly "Oh come on, please don't be so formal…it's kind of weird with someone younger than me" he said with a bit of embarrassment.

"Oh well, then what could I do for you?" the girl asked.

"Well, my name is Naruto and I'm looking for-"

"Naruto-san?" asked another voice, the blond, the plumber and the mobian turned to see Vanilla, looking at them wide-eyed, yet also with hope in her eyes. Cream mirrored her mother's look, but with a surprised expression on her face.

The blond waved and simply said "We've got good news" he and his friends passed, and once inside Silver snapped his fingers, making the eighteen eggs they gathered appear in front of Vanilla and Cream, both gasped in shock, before the elder rabbit smiled lovingly at the eggs…and then grabbed Naruto and company in another bone breaking bear hug.

"Oh, thank you three, I don't know how I could ever repay your kindness!" cried Vanilla as our poor three suffocated heroes started to turn blue.

"Air…" Naruto managed to gasp as Vanilla noted she had once again used too much of her strength in a hug and released them.

Vanilla smiled and then bowed to the trio of heroes, speaking sincerely "Naruto-san, you don't know how much I thank you, seeing that the Chao eggs you brought are safe is something that I made me feel how that hope I started to lose is returning, but there are still a lot more out there" she then bowed again "I know this'll sound selfish, but could you look for them and bring them back"

The boy instantly grinned "Hey, I already said I'd find them all, you better believe it!"

Cream smiled happily and ran to him with a bag in her hands "Thanks a lot, Mr. Naruto, please take this as a token of our gratitude"

"Thanks" the blond said inspecting the bag and finding some potions and ethers "Wow, this will surely come in handy"

Silver nodded "That'll shorten our shopping list, now we better get back to meet Itachi" his friends nodded and walked to meet the weasel themed swordsman.

XXXXXX

The trip wasn't as easy and pleasant as our heroes thought it'd be, due to the fact the boats in the island near the plaza weren't made for waters close to the shore of the beach and not long travels or to go in waters as deep as the ones near the hotel our heroes tried to find a better boat, sadly the ones in Rico Harbor were either private or cruises for what they were informed, and the road to said harbor was too long.

As they began to lose hope a Pianta kindly led them to the closest way to land on any of the most popular points in the island for the inhabitants, a fast way to get anywhere in the island in mere seconds…but it wasn't what they thought it'd be:

"A CANNON?" the three asked in shock to the blue islander controlling the red artifact that looked more like the top of a tank.

The islander nodded "Yeah, I said it's the fastest"

"But I don't think it's the safest" Luigi replied as he looked fearfully to the artifact.

"Oh nonsense, it's perfectly safe, even for someone who can't swim like me" said a new voice…and our heroes were shocked at what they saw.

It was a seven feet tall walking and talking skeleton! It wore a black coat with white frills and a white opened collar, on his neck and shoulders hung a big orange feathered scarf, it had pink pants with yellow flowers adoring them, black platform boots and a big blue ribbon hanging from his neck. It had a pair of pink tinted golden trimmed sunglasses on his hollow eye sockets, a purple simple cane hung from his left wrist and a big, if not enormous, golden hat shaped like a crown. What shocked them the most was that it still had hair, an enormous puffy black afro showing itself beneath his hat.

And Naruto's only reaction was to shout a simple and loud: "COOL!"

Silver and Luigi for their part could only take a step back, their mouths agape and their eyes widened in pure horror as they had their hands in front of them in a defensive manner. The skeleton then took another step near the group and both of the blonde's small companions took another step backwards. Then the skeleton took out a green shark shaped guitar from thin air and started to play a few notes with what seemed a merry expression in his face…even if he hadn't one.

"My, my, are you perhaps a fan of mine?" the skeleton asked in a merry tone that matched his 'face'.

The blond shook his head "I don't even know who you are because I'm from another world…but I don't care, you look way too cool!" the blond kid said with sparkles around his eyes, causing the skeleton to laugh a merry laugh.

"Yohohohoho!" it laughed "Well, I've never felt so loved, I could almost split my face with a smile, though I don't have a face. Yohohohoho!" the skeleton laughed at his own joke as Naruto chuckled, his friends still too shocked to even act.

Naruto then had an idea, and if readers remember well, his ideas always mean trouble: "Hey, since you said you know how to use this cannon, could you help us out?"

Before the two terrified small heroes could say a thing the tall skeleton simply replied a "Sure, why not?" as if it were nothing, leaving Silver and Luigi to fall to their hands and knees in defeat as they accepted they had to be with the scary 'person' near them for a while longer.

"My name's Naruto, and my friends are Silver and Luigi" the blond introduced himself and his friends.

"And I'm Hanauta no Brook, though Brook is good enough" the skeleton said with a gentleman's bow.

"Hey, are you coming or not?" Naruto asked his friends as he walked to the cannon, the poor duo following with the skeleton behind.

XXXXXX

The trip wasn't that bad, actually it had been fun for Naruto, flying in the air before a refreshing landing in the sea water, it reminded him of when he jumped from the higher trees into the water in a warm summer to impress Hinata and make her laugh with his mid-air poses or to compete a bit more with Satsuki. He saw Luigi dive into the water like a professional before he swum to the shore beside him. Silver for his part, not wanting to get his fur wet, used his telekinetic powers to hover to the shore.

And last but not least was Brook, the skeleton surprised them when he turned upright while midair and then started to run, but the speed of his legs made the trio of heroes see a blur where said limbs once were…before Brook actually ran over the water! Naruto was excited and almost jumping from his sheer excitement while Silver and Luigi were amazed at the speed of the skeleton, even if it hadn't any muscles.

"Thanks for the tips, Brook" Naruto said with his infamous goofy grin.

The skeleton waved calmly "You're welcome, Naruto-san, besides, I do have to meet someone in this hotel"

Luigi raised a brow "Really, who is it?" he asked, mentally begging it wasn't who he thought it was.

Brook hummed with his hand on his chin before snapping his fingers "Ah, I think his name was either weasel or Itachi, for some reason the kind bun haired lady told me to call him 'Weasel'"

The plumber shivered a bit '_I just knew it, I'm a spook magnet_' he mentally moaned.

Naruto chuckled with his hands behind his head "Then you should come with us, we're looking for weasel-man too"

"Oh, such a joyful coincidence…I feel as if we were meant to meet…I just have a new inspiration for a new song" Brook said and took out a paper, a bottle of ink and a feather as he started to write while following his new friends.

XXXXXX

"What do you mean we can't enter?" Silver demanded the clerk, a purple Pianta with a blue uniform.

The clerk put his hands on his hips and adopted a dead serious pose "Sorry, but the heartless have the casino infested at this hour of the night, so unless you four are as strong as Kushina-san or Itachi-san to get rid of them I won't allow you to…why are you all smiling?"

After showing the clerk they were armed and capable of getting the job done the four eccentric guys went down to the casino in a fancy elevator. The place was big and fancy to say the least, to the team's sides were slot machines lined up in a triangle formation to the right and left of the elevator's entrance, behind the machines were fountains with nicely made pedestals with flames on top, at the bottom was a big red curtain hiding whatever it hid…and in front of our heroes Tenten's words were proven to be true.

"Wow…that's the biggest roulette I've ever seen, even if I don't have any eyes" Brook commented as they approached a roulette the size of Pina Park's pool, they had to use a small stair to get up and in. Once in they noted that the very first panel they were in was purple, just like Tenten said.

"So, how do we activate this thing?" Naruto asked as he looked at it thoughtfully.

"Um...Naruto, remember that this place is infested with heartless?" a nervous Luigi asked as he stepped back, everyone turned to see where he was looking, and slowly did the same "Well, it seems we'll have to wait a little while longer before meeting Itachi"

Atop the slot machines small armies of Power Wilds bounced up and down. The fountains were covered by small wizards floating around, some new which were colored yellow and green. In front of the curtain and blocking the entrance were about four Large Bodies on each side, accompanied by the typical Shadows and Soldiers.

Chuckling nervously as everyone readied themselves to attack Luigi commented "Well, let's see who feels lucky here" he joked.

Silver groaned a bit "You need to work on your jokes"

Naruto looked around and then sighed "This is gonna hurt"

And then the battle began.

Naruto attacked with his Keyblade, but the Power Wilds dodged the attack and all rammed him into a wall. Silver shot a thunder spell knocking the heartless away from the blond. Brook meanwhile ran around at amazing speeds showing off his Iaidou and fencing combinations, taking out a saber hidden in his cane and sheathing it in the blink of an eye, the moment he did so heartless fell dead. The skeleton and a back to battle Naruto slashed the shadows and soldiers as well as the green wizards before they could recover their allies.

Luigi caught one of the Large Bodies when it attempted to body slam the plumber, then spun the big heartless around and shot it at a few like a bowling ball hitting pins. He ran at some of the remaining ones and spun around in place with his arms extended, using his Luigi Tornado move, punching the group of heartless aside. Naruto threw his Keyblade at a group of wizards, knocking them down. Taking the chance, the hedgehog planted his hands on the ground and several rocky spikes stabbed the remaining ones.

Taking the small path free of a big number of heartless the four heroes quickly made a run for it. They ran away from the group of heartless, knocking away any that were in their path. They finally got to the panel, just as even more heartless popped out of thin air in dark portals. Naruto kicked a few away, Silver burned a few, Luigi hit them like an angry bull and Brook slashed them like sushi.

"They don't seem to stop!" Luigi yelled as he punched a shadow away.

"Forget about them, the panel is just ahead so keep running!" Naruto shouted.

"You three go ahead, I'll take care of these guys" Luigi said in a rare fit of confidence.

Naruto and the rest of the gang nodded, they managed to make it to the purple panel once again, Naruto hardly stomped on it, making the roulette like platform move down like an elevator. Naruto, Silver and Brook jumped in while Luigi held the heartless off. There were tons heartless surrounding him from all corners.

"This is not gonna end well for me…" Luigi said nervously. He then covered his eyes "Farewell cruel world!" Naruto, Siler and Brook's hands suddenly came from the platform and grabbed the plumber's legs, pulling him in "Mama-mia!" the plumber cried.

Unfortunately, the platform was rather slow, and the heartless jumped after the four warriors.

XXXXXX

Itachi leaned on the purple star covered wall of the circular room he was in, using a towel to wipe the sweat off him. Just as Kushina walked in with a tray of tea for him the ninja heard the loud sound of engines and gears moving and looked up to see the ceiling coming down, proving to be the platform one could use to get to this basement if they hit the purple panel hard enough. The weasel themed ninja raised an eyebrow when he noted Naruto, Silver, Luigi and a weirdly dressed walking skeleton covered in bruises and with their clothes, and fur in Silver's case, very dirty.

Once the platform was down the four gave one step forwards…before falling face first on the floor with a groaning "Ow…"

Naruto, still with his face on the floor, raised his arm and waved at Itachi and the woman "Hey, Kushina-san, weasel man, how are you doing?" he asked tiredly.

Itachi mentally growled at his new nickname but still replied in his dull monotone "I'm doing fine, but the same cannot be said about you…and your new friend" he added the last part looking with a raised eyebrow to Brook.

The skeleton then raised his hand, but like Naruto he still kept his face on the floor, and waved at Itachi and the redhead "Good evening, my name is Hanauta no Brook, also known as the Soul King, and I came here with some questions…but first I think I'll let my new friends do theirs as I take a little rest"

Kushina giggled "I think you all should rest a bit, the heartless in the casino are very stubborn, and fortunately they only attack at night" she then walked up to them and put a cup of tea in front of each of their heads "Drink a bit, this green tea will calm you down and give you some energy back"

"Thanks" the four replied in unison, their faces still on the floor and their arms lazily waving at the redhead.

"So, what brings you four by?" Itachi asked our heroes. That's when Naruto went on talking about the worlds they have visited. Mentioning the people they've met, including Neji which caught both Itachi and Kushina's attention. "Neji is alive?" the swordsman asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You know him?" Luigi asked.

"More like someone we all know does, but it's a long story" The man said "It's not something we should talk about at the moment. But what we can tell you is that Neji came from our own world"

Naruto did catch that part with wide eyes "So then…oh man!" he groaned loudly, slapping his face and showing disappointment "If Hinata were here she'd be so happy…"

Silver placed a hand on his friend's shoulder "Hey, don't beat yourself, we'll find her and then you'll tell her yourself, all right?" but Naruto surprised the mobian by shaking his head.

"No, I'm actually happy to know where she's from" he said with a genuine smile, then frowned a bit "It's just that…I want to find her more than before to tell her"

The red head smiled lovingly at the boy's care for the girl, but had one request: "Naruto, if you see Neji again could you do Tenten a favor and tell him to be careful?" Kushina asked, then smiled mischievously "And do tell him that Tenten is waiting for him"

"Don't worry, we will" the blond nodded "So anyways..." he continued on and then he mentioned the keyhole "…and then I did what Aku told me, it sealed it and locked the keyhole automatically with that weird blue beam. And I don't know why. Do you know what it means?"

"Is it bad?" Luigi gulped fearfully.

"Actually, I was hoping that would happen" Itachi said honestly "The keyhole you saw in Shibuya-cho and the Wumpa Islands is in all worlds, the heartless enter it and they begin eating away at the heart of the world"

"Heart of the world?" Naruto asked in confusion.

"Stated in one of Tobi's reports was that when a keyhole was found, inside of it rests the heart of that world and the heartless eat away at it" the swordsman explained.

"So what happens to it?" the kid wondered.

"The world is shattered and destroyed" Kushina sighed sadly.

Naruto and his friends could only gasp in horror "WHAT?"

"Such terrible atrocity!" Brook exclaimed.

"That's why my island was destroyed!" Naruto thought aloud in horror. He then put his head down and sighed sadly "If I only knew sooner, I could have saved Hinata…I could have also helped Satsuki…I could have-"

The blond stopped when he felt Luigi put his arm around him "Kid, it's all right, it's not your fault. If anything bad happens I'm here for you to help get things right" he said with a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry, Naruto" Silver smirked "We're going to do everything we can to help, that's what we promised in Wumpa Islands"

Brook looked at the kid, then patted his back with his skeletal hand "We may have met for a few moments, but as a man, nay, as a friend I am compelled to help another comrade"

Kushina smiled at the scene and Itachi gave a small smirk "Now you understand why you're the only one who can save us" the weasel themed ninja said "As the chosen one of the key, you are the only one to complete that task"

Naruto felt a bit uncertain "Maybe..."

"Trust me, seeing other worlds will serve you well" Itachi chuckled.

"He's right, kid" Luigi agreed.

"Yeah, besides, we need to find Mario and your friends as well as save the worlds" Silver added.

"And that's what I've been looking for" Brook commented, then hung his head low "But…after my world was invaded by the darkness…" he didn't need to finish that line as everyone knew what happened and why would he be here with them.

Naruto looked at Brook's sad eyes, then looked at his Keyblade for a few seconds, gripped it tighter and then smiled his confident goofy smile. He stood up with his usual confident look and held the Keyblade up in the air "Alright! I'll do it!" the blond cried in excitement.

"Yeah!" Silver shouted pumping his fist in the air.

"That's the spirit, kid!" Luigi complimented patting his young friend's back.

"Yohohohoho! Such bravery, worthy of a song" Brook commented as he thought of good notes.

Itachi stood up and began to walk away "I have confidence in you, Naruto, I know you will be the one to stop the darkness" he said calmly.

But before the man left Silver elbowed Naruto, causing him to remember and pull out the two pieces of the Toad Express together as one "By the way weasel man, we found this odd looking piece part for the Toad Express when we sealed the keyhole" the blond said showing the growling Itachi the piece "Do you have an idea on how to use it?"

Itachi looked at the piece with confusion and sighed "I'm afraid I don't have too much knowledge on these things, so I can't help you there"

"But I'm sure Omega could figure it out" Kushina said giving the group hope.

"Then we'll go see him!" Luigi cried.

"Oh, and take this too" Itachi called out to Naruto as he began to leave, the elder swordsman threw a red card, the kid caught it and noted that in one side it was crimson red with a white fox's head's picture while the other was a black oval in the center with red all around, as if it were a framed picture.

"What's this?" the confused boy asked.

"It's called a Humanoid Typhoon card, it has been my good luck charm and now I pass it onto you to hold onto" the man smiled "I heard that it has amazing powers and while I'm not sure how it works I'm sure you can figure it out"

"Right" Naruto nodded with a smile and then turned to his friends. "Come on, guys! We have no time to waste!"

XXXXXX

The trio headed out thanks to the moving platform. Once in the casino the group noted that there were still some heartless around. Deciding not to waste any time Luigi forced his way through the still remaining heartless like a football player with Brook beside him slashing the remaining ones and both Naruto and Silver taking out the ones who charged from behind if they got too close. As they arrived back outside from the panel more heartless attacked.

After that they managed to find a boat and get a ride to back to the plaza. Once there their first stop was the robot's shop, the four entered and saw Omega polishing himself. The big robot heard the bell on the door ring when they entered his humble shop, he stopped his maintenance routine and greeted them.

"Greetings, Naruto. It's been a while since our last meeting" Omega greeted the group.

"How are things, Omega?" the boy asked.

"Business could be handled a bit faster if there were more costumers" Omega informed "Maybe I should try to add more upgrades into this shop. But returning to our business, what brings you all by?" Naruto took that as his cue and pulled out the Toad Express piece, handing it to Omega. The big robot analyzed it with its 'eyes' before nodding "Analysis complete. This is a Toad Express piece, and judging by its design these are rare navigation ones"

"What does that kind do?" Silver asked.

Omega then blinked, or something like that as his eyes' lenses clicked like a camera "Are you trying to pull a joke on this unit?" he turned fully to them and asked with an uncertain tone "You travel in a Toad Express and don't know what these pieces are? Do you all have the collective brain cells of a brick?"

"Listen, we can't understand everything!" Naruto said angrily at Omega "So, what? We have to use the Toad Express, there's no other option!"

"Please remain from using violent actions, Naruto, I didn't know" Omega stated a bit nervously "My apologies. Maybe I could give you some assistance with this"

"That's great!" Naruto cheered "You rock, Omega!"

"But first..."

"Why is there a catch for everything?" Silver whined.

The hedgehog then backed away when a chain-gun was inches from his nose, the weapon attached to Omega's arm "Ever heard of the principle of equivalent trade?" he asked the scared mobian "Don't mess with this unit, you don't want to see what my whole artillery can do" the hedgehog fearfully nodded.

"Hey, take it easy!" Naruto cried "He was kidding! Um, what's the problem?"

"There's the clear need to discuss your payment" Omega said "But since you're doing this to save our proverbial rears I'll let you run an errand for me"

"Sure, I used to do it on my island" The boy chuckled, mentally adding '_Well, it does pay to do Hinata a lot of favors_'

"I could get you a part-time job here if you want" Omega suggested and turned to one side "I've been meaning to find the owner of this" he said, pulling out of a box beneath his counter a…box?

The heroes looked in awe at the object the robot had in his hands. It was yellow, and for some reason an interrogation mark was spinning around. The yellow cube seemed to have some sort of magic aura surrounding it, and the heroes felt the need to hit it and see what would happen.

Luigi's eyes suddenly widened "It's an Item Block" he cried in excitement.

"A what?" asked a confused blond.

Luigi smiled and took out the block "This baby here holds mysterious items that give me and my brother special powers…wait…" he turned to the robot and asked "Did a man that looked a lot like me but smaller and in the need of a diet give this to you?"

Omega nodded "Affirmative"

"Alright!" everyone cheered, save a confused Brook.

"What's the matter? Why is there so much importance in this eccentric magical device?" the skeleton asked.

Luigi beamed "This must mean that my brother is giving us a hand!" he exclaimed and held up the block as he turned to Omega "I think I can take this with me, if it ain't that much of a problem with you, big fella"

Omega shook his head "No need to worry. Either someone claimed it or it would have ended in the trash can in the long run"

Naruto and his friends' sweat-dropped at the statement, then the blond remembered their business "Hey, Omega, what needs to be delivered?" he asked as Luigi put the block inside his vacuum, which could carry a lot of things inside (Seriously, ever played Luigi's Mansion? That thing can carry Scrooge McDuck's fortune inside).

Omega snapped his metallic fingers- err, claws, and went through his storage closet, in a few seconds he pulled out an old book. It had a red hard cover and a white oval in front as if to have an image, but had none, or even a name."Just deliver this old book. It's extremely old so please be careful. When the man who gave it to me brought it in, it was practically falling apart. Too beat up to restore it to the way it was" Omega explained "But overall, I did a decent job restoring it. But back to the point, please take this for me and that will count as your payment. I'm not as cheap as some people are here, so be thankful" he said, eying the heroes in a way that even if his 'face' had no emotion meant to say 'don't you dare mess with me'.

"Okay, so where do we take it?" Naruto asked while taking the book, sweating a bit at the stare the robot gave them.

"You'll need to go Pinna Park for that" Omega explained "There's an old house on the edge of the beach part. In there is where the book can go and I'm sure someone should be there. At least I assume that hypothesis. And while you're busy doing that I'll get to work on the Toad Express and get it ready for any new travel in the galaxy"

"Thanks!" Silver said "Let's go!"

XXXXXX

The four headed off to Pinna Park. On the way they had to go again into the cannon they used to get to Hotel Delfino last time. This time they didn't hesitate and jumped in, being blasted off to the island at super fast speeds. About a minute later of flying the four landed safe and sound in the water right towards Pinna Park, fortunately their fall was very soft as they landed near the shore, walking to their new destination. They came up on shore and to their left they noticed a Japanese looking beach house with a symbol hanging from a white cloth that acted as a door in front…the same as in Naruto's shirt.

"Wow, that's something you don't see every day" Luigi said commenting on the house, and then turned to his friend "Any idea of what we could find?"

The boy had the same question "I was also wondering who lives there"

"Well gentlemen, we should go and find out" Brook said.

The group ran over to the house. As luck would have it, no heartless were in sight but they were still alert just in case. The blond gently knocked on the wooden wall beside the cloth-door, but no one answered. All of a sudden the wind blew, moving the cloth to the side as if opening a door for them.

"A ghost!" Luigi exclaimed in fear, jumping into Silver's arms before the two fell over. Naruto and Brook just chuckled at their antics.

"Hey, get off and be serious! It's just the wind!" Silver said angrily at the sheepish looking plumber.

"Sorry, I just had a bad sense of déjà vu" the plumber said with an apologetic sheepish smile.

Naruto chuckled, then turned to the house with an excited smile "Come on, let's go in!"

"We can't do that!" Luigi pointed out "We'd be freeloading!"

"It ain't freeloading when we're doing a delivery and then book it" Silver explained.

"Ok…" Luigi muttered under his breath, before stepping behind his friends "Y-you first!" he said, fear obvious at the idea of ghosts.

The four walked into the house, the skeleton looked around with some amusement, Silver eyed the place expecting something to come out, Luigi had his lantern pointing at every dark corner in case something could come and get them, and Naruto just walked as he and his friends inspected the wooden empty space and a big round table for at least ten persons in the middle.

"Wow! Someone needs to do some redecorating, huh?" Silver commented on the inside of the house.

"There isn't even any furniture in here, quite interesting" Brook said observing the room "Could it be that whoever lives here is a traveler or a wanderer?" he asked his friends who shrugged.

Silver, Luigi and Brook walked off while Naruto looked around on his own. All of a sudden he heard a very familiar voice.

"You know…There's something about this place…it reminds me of that time you convinced me to join you into entering our secret place…" said a female voice. A wide-eyed blond boy turned to see none other than his shy friend Hinata standing in front of him with her hands behind her lower back and a cute happy smile in her face…which was only two inches apart from his "It reminds me of when we would scribble on the walls… that was the first time I had so much fun since I arrived to the island, and all thanks to you"

"Hi-Hinata?" asked the more than shocked blond, his face getting red at the close proximity of their faces.

"You didn't forget, did you, Naruto-kun?" she said with a loving smile the boy couldn't resist…her face coming closer to his…Then she kissed him!

Naruto's mind went at a mile per year, his pupils had shrunk to microscopic proportions as he could feel that warm and soft feeling of his old childhood friend's lips on his…and he loved it. The sensation of her warmth on his body, the taste of cinnamon buns in her breath, the softness of her skin and her dazzling eyes staring at his wide ones…he could just died there as a happy man. Yet, no matter how happy he was and relieved to see her and how…good it felt to be kissed by her…there was something wrong here…Hinata seemed…blurry.

He finally pulled away from her when he noted how his friend's body looked "Hinata?" the boy asked in confusion.

"Naruto?"

Said kid turned to notice his three friends looking at him funny.

"Naruto, you okay?" Silver asked concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine but..." the boy turned back to where the lavender eyed girl had been when she stole his first kiss…but to his surprise he saw no one. He shook his head, trying to get his thoughts in line '_What's wrong with me? Have I lost it? I could have sworn that was Hinata…and the kiss felt too real…if not, amazing_' he thought with his cheeks reddening.

"Naruto?" Luigi asked with curiosity "You sure you're fine, kid. You're very red"

"Don't worry! I'm fine!" Naruto lied with a huge version of his goofy grin.

"Hehe…" a new voice chortled "You've arrived earlier than I expected"

"Who's there?" Luigi exclaimed.

Everyone turned to see an old, balding man with white hair, white eyebrows, and a white goatee. He wore a red and white robe with a matching white japanese hat with the kanji of fire inscribed on it in red.

"Great, I just knew we would get it!" Luigi moaned as he expected a lecture or a long angry speech about privacy.

"Oh no, I was expecting you four here, but not this earlier" The man chortled

"What? Y-you knew we were coming?" the shocked Naruto exclaimed.

"Oh, but of course" The man said.

"Are you a heartless then?" the kid asked suspiciously.

"How are you sure, he doesn't look like one?" Luigi countered his friend's comment.

"Good heavens, I'm no heartless" The man chortled "My name is Hiruzen Sarutobi, a retired shinobi. I'm usually traveling, sometimes I go home with my son and grandson, but…"

"Wait!" Naruto cried in surprise "Are you talking about Konohamaru Sarutobi and Azuma Sarutobi?" he asked in shock.

"Well, I guess you know them" Hiruzen chuckled with a smile "So, anyways I've come back to my old home. Home sweet home to help you, Silver, Luigi" he then turned to Brook with a raised eyebrow "Though your name does escape me"

Brook took out his hat and bowed like a gentleman "Oh, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Hanauta no Brook, a pleasure"

"Wait, Gramps, how do you know our names?" Silver asked in shock, but still not fully trusting the guy after he appeared out of nowhere like that.

"Mario requested my help" The elder responded.

"My brother?" Luigi said.

"But of course, and you young man, who might you be?" he asked turning to Naruto, pointing at him with his cane.

"My name is Naruto" the blond said with a confident smirk.

"Excellent, I've finally found the key bearer" Hiruzen said with another smile.

"So what did my bro ask you to do?" the plumber wondered.

"I'll tell you that after I make this a little more like a home" Hiruzen said, pulling out of his robes a large scroll, he opened it and put his hands in its contents, before shouting "KAI!" In one second the whole place was covered in a cloud of smoke, thought our heroes did not cough. Just then furniture and books appeared out from the scroll and landed perfectly in place. Lamps landed on hooks, and books landed on book shelves. In minutes the empty room looked like a normal and complete Japanese home.

"There we go, much better" Hiruzen said as he inspected his house before turning to his guests "You four can sit down if you want to" Naruto's group accepted the offer as they sat at the table with stunned looks all over their faces, but then came to remembering what they needed to do.

"Man, I could put all of my ramen reserves in one of those" Naruto chuckled.

Brook smiled "Oh ramen…it's been so long since I last tasted a bowl of it"

Naruto smiled at Brook "Don't worry, we have plenty in our plane, you should have some"

Silver groaned as he rubbed his temples '_If I keep on seeing noodles in every meal I'll turn crazy…_' he then turned to Hiruzen and went back to the topic at hand "So why did Mario request your help?"

"Simple, I'm here to increase your skills in the art of magic" Hiruzen explained "Anytime you like, I can teach your how to hone in on your skills. Just let me know when you would like to start" Just then knocking could be heard at the door "Oh yes, the other master has just arrived"

"What other master?" Naruto asked.

The door-cloth opened and another elder man walked in. He had grey spiky hair, small round spectacles, was very thin, short and looked kind of like a goat with an angry face. He was of Chinese ethnicity, had a white shirt on, a yellow open woolen vest, simple jeans and brown shoes.

"Who are you?" Silver asked the man.

"Me? Call me Uncle" The man said with a Chinese accent, then asked Silver to come closer with his fingers "Uncle's here to help you, the blond, the plumber and the skeleton behind you. And one more thing" *Thwack!* Uncle hit the hedgehog with his index and middle fingers right on the forehead in a whipping manner "Show Uncle some respect, rodent! One more thing, Uncle left his antique shop only to help you because of your friend's brother asking nicely! One more thing, Uncle did this all because he's the only one in here with the most acknowledge in magic and dark magic countermeasures! One more thing, where's my coffee? Coffee's the only thing keeping Uncle's aching heart beating, Hiruzen" he said angrily, turning to the other elder.

"Great, an old man with the temper of a time bomb" Silver groaned under his breath.

Brook nodded "Reminds me a bit of my navigator friend"

"He can be a bit short in the fuse, but he is here to help you kids out" Hiruzen said "If you need me, I shall be at my desk. I'll do whatever I can to help"

Naruto then remembered the book Omega gave him "By the way, the reason we're here is because Omega had a book that needed to be delivered to you, Old Man"

Hiruzen smiled, not at all bothered by his new nickname "Oh, thank you! I've been wondering when Omega would be finished with this. I bet you're wondering what this book is about, aren't you?" The four heroes nodded "Well I don't know what it is either. It mysteriously showed up in my bag while I was traveling, so it's not mine. It was such a curious book, so I asked Omega to repair it for me. I'll put it over on my desk if you want to read it. You four are welcomed to look at it. This book holds a great secret. I heard that the missing pages will unlock it. Give Omega my regards for fixing it up"

"We will" Naruto said with a nod, then remembered another thing "By the way, Itachi gave us this weird card" the blond said holding up the red item "Have any idea what it does?"

"Uncle can answer that question" Called out the other elder man. Team Maelstrom and Brook walked over to Uncle, the elder looked sadly at the card when Naruto handed it to him "Poor soul, trapped in here after a long hardship"

"Someone's actually in there?" Luigi gasped.

"Yeah, he turned into a summon card" Uncle answered.

"What's a summon card?" asked a baffled Silver.

"Persons who live in a world that was destroyed by darkness" the elder explained "Although his world was destroyed, this person's heart was strong enough to survive. So it turned into this very card, a mystical item made to protect those with pure intentions or hearts of great power"

"Can it regain itself?" Brook asked.

"Of course it can!" said a now again angry Uncle "Don't you dare underestimate the power of one's heart, it'll be more than helpful. One more thing, this cards are meant for people of great inner power, so do expect useful allies. One more thing, though the summoned person might be back it'll be only the spirit, now observe!" Uncle cried.

The elder then pulled out a…a balloon-fish? The weird thing about the dead dry fish was the green glow in its mouth. Uncle put the card inside the fish and instantly removed it. The instant the card was out a white bright light glowed and covered the room, forcing everyone to close their eyes to avoid getting blind. Then in a second the light died out and the card fell down into Naruto's hand, the boy giving it a raised eyebrow as he inspected it with his friends.

There was one major change in the card. In the oval that once was blank now there was the picture of a man, a blond guy with clear green eyes, he was seemingly a tall man with his hair standing up in several spikes, resembling a broom. He wore a full body crimson red cassock, though his left arm was covered in black leather, black leather pants and black toe-steeled boots. He had a silver earring in his left ear, yellow tinted round spectacles, and a very big silver revolver on his right hip. This man was smiling friendly and giving the Peace sign with his left hand, the right one holding his gun.

"What happened?" Luigi asked curiously, then took notice of the name below the picture "And who is this Vash guy?"

"This is the trapped heart" Uncle explained "His spirit has been revived, and you can call him to help you. But only for a short time, if you find any more, bring them to Uncle. When their world is restored, the trapped hearts will return to their respective world" he then turned to the blond and looked at him with a sad look on his face "Please find them, Naruto…"

The blond noted the man wanted to say more, but decided not to put his nose where it didn't belong and nodded "Don't worry, I assure you we'll find them" he then turned to Hiruzen "We'll return later. We have to get going"

"Go see Omega before doing anything else. I just got a call from him" Hiruzen said "He just went over to a small house by Pinna Park. Just go inside the park and look around for a small house. You should see it"

"Alright then, and thanks again" Silver waved to Hiruzen as they left.

"Good kids" Hiruzen said, then smiled "You two would be proud of him, I just know…"

XXXXXX

The group headed over to Pinna Park unaware of the turn of events that were about to happen. The ninja, the hedgehog, the plumber and the skeleton made their way towards the entrance of Pinna Park. As they arrived inside they noticed almost no citizens in the park.

"Where is everybody?" Silver wondered. "It looks like a ghost town."

"Ghosts?" Brook said almost whimpering as he looked around in fear "Where?"

"Hahaha! For being kind of scary you sure get scared easily, Brook" Naruto chuckled.

"My apologies, Naruto-san, but I'm not of a very strong heart, though I don't have a heart" Brook said sheepishly.

Silver looked around "Guess, we're the only ones here"

"But don't worry, we have some uninvited guests!" Luigi gulped nervously. The group noticed two shadows approaching them. Naruto and his friends got ready to fight when all of a sudden the two critters got destroyed instantly and disappeared as the darkness they were.

"Wh-what happened! What killed them!" asked a shocked hedgehog.

Naruto looked up and his eyes widened, his mouth dropped and he just…could barely believe it. He could see the dark haired figure in the shadows. He could recognize the long but weirdly spiky haircut of his rival, Satsuki "There you are!" the ravenette said with a cocky smirk "You're alive! I was about to give up hope I wouldn't find you!"

Naruto, too overjoyed, though a bit wary, ran over to her teary-eyed…then grabbed her cheeks and pulled them around to try to find out if she was real "Satsuki! Is that really you?" Naruto cried.

"Hey, cut it out, you loser! Of course it's me!" Satsuki said pushing her rival back.

"Am I going crazy?" he said in clear shock "I'm not dreaming this time, right?"

"Hope not!" the girl giggled brushing her hair "Man, it took me forever to find you"

"Satsuki!" the boy cried in joy, and then gave her a friendly hug "I finally found you!" Satsuki thanked Naruto was so oblivious and looking behind her so he didn't notice her growing blush and the faint smile in her face. The other three looked at that, smiling at their favorite blonde's happiness.

"See kid, you never gave up and you found your friend" Luigi smiled.

Naruto pulled away from the girl and turned to his team "And I couldn't have done it without you guys, I owe you a lot"

"Aw, it's nothing" the plumber blushed.

"Wow, this place looks down in the dumps" the ravenette said looking around the park "I was expecting a bigger crowd here. So Naruto, are you alright? You look like a lot has happened"

"Well Satsuki, a lot has been happening while we were apart like..." the blond then gasped upon realizing something "Wait! Where's Hinata? Is she with you?"

"I thought she was with you!" Satsuki responded.

Naruto looked down with a sad look and sighed "Where could she be?" he asked himself frustrated.

Satsuki put her hands on her friend's shoulders "Hey, don't worry, I'm sure she's fine. If the two of us made it off, then I'm sure she did. Maybe she's looking for us, who knows" She said…but a tone of uncertainty and…sadness seemed to be there. She walked away from the group "Look at the bright side, we're finally free. We can do what we want. Just think of it, we can travel to all worlds!" the girl said with joy.

"But we said all three of us would go" Naruto sadly pointed out.

"Calm down! We'll find her!" Satsuki snapped. That anger made Naruto and company go wide eyed, the blond giving a fearful step back, which alarmed her as she covered her mouth in regret "Sorry…I-I didn't mean to overreact" she said truthfully, looking down "Don't worry, just leave everything to me..." she reassured with a cocky smirk. But unknown to her, a Shadow was behind her back and ready to pounce "We'll be together soon; you see I know this-"

The Shadow jumped into the air but Naruto acted instantly to save his friend, dashing at fast speeds and slashing it away, sending it to kingdom come. Everyone looked at the blond with surprised faces. The cocky smirk was now in Naruto's face as he turned to the now shocked ravenette, putting the Keyblade up.

"So tell me, leave it to who?" Naruto smirked more.

"But, how did you-?" the girl asked confused.

"You see, Satsuki. I've gotten a lot stronger and I have had new friends to help me find you" Naruto said referring to the rest of Team Maelstrom "Trust me, these guys made my adventure fun"

But while Naruto looked ta them with pride, Satsuki looked at his allies with a blank, dull look "Who are they?"

Silver then stepped forward clearing his throat "Allow me to introduce myself, my name is..."

"We've traveled to so many worlds trying to find you!" Naruto interrupted "I've got a lot stronger too, so I think can handle this!"

"Is that so?" the girl asked raising her eyebrow, but Naruto noted a sad tone in her voice.

But before he could ask Luigi jumped onto his back and put his arms around the boy's neck "Oh, and guess what? Naruto's the Keyblade master!" the plumber proudly exclaimed.

"And a very good swordsman, might I add" Brook commented.

"Who would've thought it?" Silver said.

"Hey!" Naruto snapped.

"So this thing is called a Keyblade?" Called Satsuki, everyone turned to see her holding the boy's legendary weapon.

"How did you…why did you...give it back!" Naruto managed to demand. He tried to grab the Keyblade from Satsuki, but the girl simply walked, causing the boy to fall down.

Satsuki examined the Keyblade "Remarkable craftsmanship" she said observing the sword, before having a bored look in her face "I have no interest in taking this thing, I have my own weapon. Here! Catch!" she threw the Keyblade to back to the blond, who managed to catch it.

"Thanks, I guess" the confused kid said, before beaming at her his big goofy grin "Alright, so you're coming with us then, right? And we fly first class to other worlds in this awesome plane! Come on, we'll have a blast! With you on our team, the heartless won't stand a chance!"

"Hold on!" Silver interrupted "She can't come with us!"

Naruto turned angrily to Silver "Why not?"

"Because she could get hurt" the hedgehog said trying to reason "She may have beaten those two heartless, but there are still a lot much stronger"

"Are you kidding me!" Naruto shouted.

"Wha-" was all Silver intelligently managed to say.

Naruto turned dead serious "Satsuki is as strong as me right now, if not then maybe even stronger"

Silver realized what that meant and rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment "Oh…sorry…"

Naruto nodded in understanding "Ok, but you don't have to worry about her. She's my rival but she's also friend. She's-"

"She's gone!" Brook exclaimed.

Everyone turned to see that the ravenette was nowhere in sight. Naruto instantly ran around the park looking for his friend. "Satsuki! Satsuki! Satsuki, where are you?" he cried. The shinobi and the others ran up a hill towards where a little white beach house was. They got about half way there and then stopped to catch their breath "She…she's really gone"

"Sorry…it's my fault" Silver said sadly "I didn't know how serious you were, she would've probably been a great help…"

"Don't worry, Silver" Naruto smiled to his shortest friend "I'm fine. At least I know Satsuki's alright, that's all that matters"

"Well kid, that's one down and one to go" Luigi cheered him up.

"You're right!" Naruto said with confidence. "And who knows, maybe we'll run into Hinata soon"

"I think we better run, gentlemen, look!" Brook cried as he took out his saber.

Everyone turned to see tons of heartless coming towards them. The whole park seemed to be plagued by them.

"Oh come on!" Naruto cried "Can't we have a rest for once!"

"Have an idea?" Luigi asked the mobian.

"I'm thinking! I'm thinking!" Silver panicked.

"Wait…" the blond said as he remembered the summon card and took it out of his pocket "Uncle said we can call the summon when we need help and that they're very strong" he then turned to his friends "This would be a good time to put it to good use"

"Alright, get to it then!" Silver said impatiently.

"Hurry!" Brook said referring to the heartless closing in as he got into a defensive stance.

Naruto threw the summon card in the air as his Keyblade began glowing. The boy pointed his weapon to the card and it fired a white light at the magic item. But both the kid and Brook went wide-eyed when the light pulled Silver and Luigi into it as they went inside like falling in a black hole, screaming their heads off.

"Guys!" Naruto cried.

The card flashed and the very same man in the card appeared, he was at least seven feet tall, almost as tall as Brook. The man, Vash, looked around in confusion.

"Wh-where am I?" Vash wondered looking around "Last thing I remember was fighting those black creatures, and then 'poof' I end up here" he then noted the heartless "And now I see more of them in front of me!" he cried in despair.

"Hey!" Naruto called to the man. The blond turned to the younger blond "Need a hand?"

"How about two?" asked Brook as he stood forward with his saber out.

"Finally, people that don't want to kill me!" Vash cheered "Do you know what's going on here?"

"I could explain, but first we need to take those guys down!" the boy said as he took his stance.

Vash turned to notice the incoming heartless and smirked "Ha! Just leave these guys to me!" The heartless charged at Vash, but in less than a split second *Bang!* a hot bullet was fired right at the critters, the power and high caliber of the revolver made it so the bullet not only passed through the monster's skull but got even more than one heartless, destroying a portion of them. Naruto and Brook stood there with a shocked look. More came and Vash spun his revolver, then shot right at them very fast, but the trick was that while the shinobi and the plumber saw and heard only one shot, three shots got the heartless and killed another good portion.

Naruto and Brook instantly joined the gunslinger into taking care of the heartless. Naruto and two clones taking on any big heartless or large groups of them, slashing with great strength and not daring to step back. Brook for his part used his lightning fast legs and fencing techniques to almost fly around the dark creatures, killing them with the cold steel of his saber before they even knew it. Vash stood back, giving them large range support…and in a few seconds the heartless were gone.

"Wow! That was so cool!" Naruto said amazed "How did you do that?"

"I'm the best gunman in Planet Gunsmoke" Vash explained "I was finally having a good time after…certain events, but then when those monsters appeared I had to fight back. I personally don't like killing, but those guys aren't even alive, they're like…machines. But now that I got rid of the black creatures, could you explain what's going on here, little guy?"

"Oh, right! My name is Naruto and your world was destroyed by a group of creatures known as the heartless" the blond explained.

Vash gasped in horror upon hearing that. "Y-you mean it?" the boy nodded "The people on that planet…are gone?...I don't understand how this could have happened"

"It's kind of a long story, but basically your heart was strong enough to survive and was imprisoned in this card" Naruto continued holding up said item "A grumpy wizard named Uncle released you to help us fight the heartless. But you'll only be around for a limited time and what I figure is that in order to summon you my friends Luigi and Silver have to be locked in the card for a short time. We need you to help us save the worlds from darkness"

"So am I here to help you fight these things to save these worlds?" Vash asked. Naruto nodded again, the gunman looked at the blond dead in the eye, before smiling in a carefree way and shaking his hand "Well, you have my full cooperation. I'll help you fight those creatures that took my friends and the people in my planet away"

"And if we can stop the heartless once and for all, we could revive your world" Naruto concluded.

"Then there's hope!" Vash cried in hope "I'll fight then, Naruto. I'll do what I can to assist you, just call me when you need me!" Just then the card began glow again and the gunslinger's body began to fade "Well, looks like my time is up. I'm so glad to make a new friend" he said waving to Naruto, then turned to Brook "Oh, and nice costume"

"Thanks" Brook smiled "But it's not a costume"

"Oh…wow…" was all Vash managed to say, before turning to Naruto to change topics "Anyways, I'm always here if you need me" he said as his spirit disappeared back into the card. When the light completely vanished, the card popped Silver and Luigi back out…right on top of the blond.

"Mama-mia!" Luigi cried.

"Ahhhh!" Silver cried.

"Not again…" Naruto groaned, right before his two friends crashed on top of him.

"Are you three alright?" Brook asked concerned.

"What happened?" Silver asked in a daze.

"I'll explain on the way up to the house" Naruto said, then shouted "Now, please get up!"

**XXXXXX**

**And that's it for now! Next chapter will be out in less than a week, promise! Sorry it took so long to update, but I wanted to put both this and the next chapter here, but since it had been a while since I have updated and I bet a lot of you were bored I decided to be nice and kick my behind, thus here is the new chapter. Again, sorry for the wait, hope you enjoyed this chap and the newest addition to Team Maelstrom**


	10. Chapter 10

I OWN NOTHING, so I'll go crazy with this chapter, yay!

**XXXXXX**

Battles and more battles

After Naruto and Brook told their friends about their new friend Vash, the group made their way to the house where Omega was supposed to be. When they finally reached it, Naruto knocked on the door and non-other than Tenten was there to answer it.

"Hey!" the girl said greeting the four with a smile "Oh, I see you managed to get a new friend" she added noting Brook.

"Hi Tenten! And yeah, Brook is fun too" Naruto said greeting back

"Greetings, young lady" Brook said taking off his hat and bowing…before "May I see your panties?"

"As if!" a red faced Tenten shouted, throwing a kunai at the skeleton that barely avoided it. Luigi and Silver instantly got to the floor to avoid more throwing weapons as Tenten now followed the extremely fast and sneaky skeleton that avoided all the sharp weapons.

"Great, he's a pervert" Silver groaned.

"Well, we all have our little problems" Luigi pointed out.

"But this one reminds me of Ero-senin…although not as perverted" the blond commented "Hey, Tenten! Where's Omega? We need to find him" Naruto asked in hopes of avoiding the fight to escalate.

"He's over here with the others" the girl responded, trying to calm herself down as she put her kunais in her pouch "Follow me!"

Naruto's group and Tenten arrived at a room with a bed and a small table where Omega, Itachi, and Kushina were sitting.

"Wow, small room" Luigi said looking around the almost empty room.

"I'm back!" Tenten announced.

Everyone turned to see the girl with the four new visitors "And you brought company I see" Itachi said. "What brings you four by?"

"We were looking for Omega" Naruto said.

"Well you found me. It's sure to assume you gave Hiruzen the book" Omega said. The four nodded "By the way, have you three heard of a man named Orochimaru?"

The four looked at one another, then shook their heads "What's the problem?" Naruto asked.

"I heard he's in town" Omega responded.

"And that's bad…because…" Silver began.

"I'm afraid you will have to hear of stories you might have never wanted to hear of" Itachi said "You see, it's because of him that this town is full of heartless" at those words the four heroes gained shocked looks "Don't take him lightly" the man warned, and that was saying a lot since he was very strong.

"And believe it or not, he's been using them for years" Kushina added.

"And because of that snake we lost our world to the heartless as well" Itachi said "One day, we got ambushed by them and they destroyed our world. That was nine years ago"

"Being the kind unit I am, I grabbed these kids by the diapers with the help of Kushina when I was traveling around and took off" Omega informed, then looked down with a sad look in his face "Unfortunately, they were the only ones I could save"

"That's terrible!" Brook said.

"We arrived and the kind citizens allowed us to build a home here" Kushina said.

"I had to watch over Itachi and Tenten as me and Kushina got jobs to pay for everything" Omega stated.

"Our ruler was a wise man named Tobi" Itachi said "He devoted his life to studying the heartless and the reports you were told about earlier could be the key to putting an end to them"

"Where are they then?" Naruto asked.

"They were scattered to other worlds" Tenten stated "No one knows where they are"

"We have suspicions that Orochimaru may have most of them" Kushina said.

XXXXXX

Meanwhile, outside of the house Satsuki was looking through the window at Naruto and his new friends with a sad look in her eyes. Beside her was a skinny and creepy man with very long slimy black hair. He was as white as milk, had yellow snake like eyes, purple rings around them and the creepiest face one could see. He wore a yellow kimono with no sleeves over a black full body suit, a big purple rope tied around his waist to keep the kimono closed…this was Orochimaru.

"I told you, little girl" he said to the ravenette "While you were trying to find your little dumb crush over here for days, he already replaced you and your best friend with new and better pals"

"I-I can't believe it" the girl said with a silent tone, a tear threatening to fall from her right eye "But he said that he wanted..."

Orochimaru started laughing cruelly "He's lying! Just look at him, he treasures them far more than he ever treasured you and that Hinata friend of yours!"

Satsuki looked back in the window and saw Naruto, Silver and Luigi cheering Brook as the skeleton started to play a new song. The girl had to wipe her tears and turned back to the man "He doesn't even care that I'm alright" she growled, but then grabbed her head and shook it "No, I can't think like that, he's... he's Naruto"

She couldn't accept it…Naruto was Naruto, he loved her and Hinata even more than ramen, he'd gladly stop eating a bowl just to be with them. The three had been all alone for most of their lives, but being with one another filled that emptiness in their hearts. There was just no way to see him betraying both her and Hinata…not after what both girls felt for him. But she asked herself…why did she feel so hollow right now?

"Listen, that's how this world can be" the creepy man explained "One minute you have friends and the next they turn on you. That's how it works some times. Trust me, you're better off without that little punk. I can help you though"

"You can?" she asked "Explain!"

"I believe there's a certain person you're looking for and I can help you" he said with an evil grin.

"Show me how!" the girl demanded, she may have lost Naruto, but Hinata was still her best friend. The shy girl and Naruto were the only persons in the world able to make the ravenette happy, she'd be damned if she lost them.

"As you wish. Let's step into my office then shall we" the man chuckled darkly, and with that both left the place.

XXXXXX

Back inside the house, Naruto finished telling everyone what's been going on when Omega stood up "While you've been delivering the book, I took care of the Toad Express" the robot said "Now you can visit other worlds. And as a gift of good will I've also installed a warp piece so you can easily warp back to other worlds faster"

"Good, so in case we need to make a pit stop we can use the warp feature to return to another world in a hurry" Silver said with a nod.

"Well, I'm heading back to my real job" Omega announced and with that he walked out the door and said good-bye.

"Then we should get going too" Naruto said "Come on guys!"

Just then a knock could be heard at the door. Tenten answered the door, finding Toadsworth standing there. But unlike his usual jolly self the mushroom was sweating bullets, his mustache was a mess and he looked horror-stricken.

"Masters, I-I've got terrible news!" he said alarmed "Th-The princess is…she's missing!"

"WHAT!" cried the four heroes, Luigi walking to his friend "What happened?"

The mushroom shook his head "I don't know, Master Luigi…I was sure she'd be in her room, but when I went to greet her she just wasn't there, and it also seems that Yoshi is missing too"

"Oh, I just know this means trouble" the plumber groaned "If Mario finds out Peach is missing he'll get mad"

"Calm down, Luigi, maybe she and Yoshi are just out for a walk" Naruto said "Let's look for her, she might be in some of the safest places of the island, like in the plaza"

"Oh, but what if they unfortunately walked without any idea to one of the areas filled with those evil heartless?" the mushroom asked, worrying even more.

While the group and the mushroom were chatting, Itachi noticed that Kushina remained unusually silent.

"Something bothering you, Kushina-sama?" the man asked, catching everyone's attention "You've never been this quiet before" he stated calmly.

"I was just thinking about the legend of Pina Park" the redhead answered "Most tourist like to go there to find out about the truth behind the legend, maybe Peach could be there"

"You mean the place where I met Silver and Luigi?" the blond asked.

"Yeah, none other" Tenten said "Legend says that there is a secret place hidden in the pool"

"Well, there's only one way to find out" Silver said.

"You mean we have to be shot once again to that place?" Luigi whimpered and everyone nodded, making him sigh in defeat "Oh well, like my brother would say, Here we go!"

XXXXXX

The four heroes quickly exited the small house and ran out to the park's pool after a flying trip thanks to the cannon. They noted that while it was still nighttime it wasn't that late, as some people were walking around without fear with no heartless in sight, the lights of the place illuminating everything and keeping the shadows at bay. It wasn't hard to find the pool since it was at the other side of the parl. But the problem was how to find that 'secret' place.

"Any suggestions, gentlemen?" Brook asked as he looked at the water, staying away from it for some reason.

"I..." Luigi started with his hand raised…before bringing it down "…got nothing" He finished.

"Look!" Naruto shouted pointing to the center where a blue small circle was "I think that might be an entrance, we could enter through it"

"Sounds like a plan" Silver said "But it's kinda hard to believe you came up with it" Naruto glared at the mobian and was about to reply, had he not been interrupted:

"Help!"

The four heroes turned to the voice…it was a big shock for them to see none other than Peach! The princess was waving at them frantically from the other side of the pool with a look of fear on her face, and needless to say the four needed no more reason to run and answer her call.

But before they could even reach the princess, a big purple beam appeared out of nowhere and blasted the ground in front of them. Everyone in the park screamed at the explosion and backed away, but their curiosity made the visitors look in interest as to what had happened. But our heroes gasped upon seeing what it was.

"It-it can't be!" Luigi gulped.

"But w-we killed him!" Naruto exclaimed.

"What is…that thing?" Brook asked.

Standing before our heroes was none other than Guard Armor, ready for a rematch. Team Maelstrom was even more horrified by seeing the big armored Heartless holding Peach in one of its massive gauntlets, before tossing the poor princess up as if it were juggling. From its back the big heartless produced an iron cage, then caught the damsel in distress and put her in the small cage, which it laid behind the pool.

"NO!" Luigi screamed in fear "We've got to rescue Peach!"

"Damn right!" Naruto shouted as he summoned the Keyblade, Silver had his gloves glowing green and Brook had his trusty saber out. Luigi for his part changed his Poltergust 3000 for FLUUD, the yellow pump coming to life.

"Luigi, is there any way I can be of assistance?" it asked in a monotone, robotic voice.

Naruto nodded "Yeah, we need to take that thing down…again"

"Young man?" someone called to Luigi. The quartet of heroes turned to see a small and very old creature in a blue seashell with small round sunglasses and a shell atop its head that looked like a Chinese hat.

Luigi then turned to the man. "Sir, get out of here it's-"

"Brilliant!" The man interrupted him with excitement "What a spectacle!"

"Huh?" the four heroes asked in confusion.

"A new show of ours, right?" The man said. Before anyone could answer the man continued "You guys are great! I say, your bosses need a raise for hiring such good actors. I love how you four play the fearless heroes and battle against that giant metal monster to save the damsel in distress" the four looked at Guard Armor, which was patiently waiting for them.

"Well actually..." Silver began.

"As director of this park I want to ensure your success" The man interrupted "So how about I provide one of you with a hero's vehicle to take that purple robot down? And some bullets for your little prop can help you"

"It's worth a shot!" Luigi said "Okay, I'll take the ride!"

Naruto nodded "Then we'll take big, ugly and rusty down!"

Luigi followed the director to the roller coaster. Naruto and Silver tried to use the same tactics they had last time on Guard Armor, but the hands quickly flew at them, knocking both aside. Brook got ticked off seeing that, he might be a gentleman, but he's not the kind of man to let his friends get hurt.

"You'll pay for that!" the skeleton crowed at the heartless. He ran at blinding speeds and horizontally slashed at the oversized armor, knocking it and all of its pieces down in one slash. Naruto ran over to him along with Silver and joined the skeleton in the fight. Naruto having his Nocturne Eye out, the Byakugan making him look intimidating as he and Silver ran at the monster, the hedgehog deeply inhaling.

"This is for that sucker punch!" both yelled. Silver spat the fireball, but instead of launching it at the heartless it flew at Naruto, who had his blade ready as a baseball bat. Then, with a mighty swing and a roar the blond swordsman threw a homerun right at the critter's head, knocking it and its pieces back a few yards.

Him and the hedgehog exchanged high-fives with wide smiles. But their joy was short lived when the Armor began shaking and got back up. The trio raised their weapons ready to fight again.

"You can't beat us!" Naruto called to the armor "We beat you once and we'll do it again!"

"What he said!" Silver added "We'll send you right to the junkyard where you belong!"

A tick mark appeared on the monster's forehead. It seemed that both Naruto and Silver had an innate ability to piss the wrong people off. It put its claws down, flat on the ground and did a handstand. The feet bent down making claws on each hand and the helmet's flap moves down showing the lifeless golden eyes worn by the heartless. The new Opposite Armor floated in the air and roared at the trio of heroes, who made nervous looks at one another.

"I'm going to file this in the category of not good!" Naruto gulped.

Opposite Armor slammed all of its limbs against our heroes, knocking the three into a wall where slid down. They tried to attack again but the Armor was not only seemingly stronger but gained a LOT of speed, so it dodged their attacks with a lot of new ease. At one point it instantly placed all of its body parts on the chest and fired a beam at the three.

Naruto rolled out of the way, then with a big amount of chakra in his feet he jumped at the heartless and kicked the Armor aside, knocking its pieces down. Silver lifted one of the hands in his psychokinetic control. Brook joined Naruto as both quickly stepped on it to destroy the captured hand. It had been a lot easier thanks to Naruto's Keyblade's ability to let him see the monster's weak spots while Brook's lightning fast slashes made a lot of quick damage.

With a metallic crash the arm blew up in pieces. Furious, the Armor spun its feet down upon our heroes, knocking them back again. The three quickly jumped back to their feet and tried to attack the chest, but the remaining hand flew fast at them, grabbing the three of them at once and threw them aside.

Naruto weakly looked up at the heartless hovering over them, its limbs ready to drop on them so they could be crushed to pancakes…until a whistle and a exploding collision reached his ears just as the heartless was thrown back thanks to a water missile.

"Take that, you oversized piece of scrap metal!" Luigi hollered from the roller coaster.

XXXXXX

Luigi had just boarded the roller coaster and thanked the director. As it went up the ramp Luigi loaded a missile into FLUUD's nozzle "Ten missiles should do for this" he said after finally carrying all of them in the ride.

"Be careful!" FLUDD warned Luigi "The Opposite Armor can shoot its limbs or dark beams at us. Its weakness is its head as proven by formerly gathered data"

"Okay! Hang on!" Luigi said. The roller coaster went down and began going over loops. During one of the loops Luigi aimed carefully, and shot a missile at the Armor's chest, knocking it aside from the heroes. He felt incredible helping his friends and hollered in joy "Take that, you oversized piece of scrap metal!"

"THANKS A LOT!" the plumber heard his blond friend yell at him as he and the others ran at the heartless to attack once again.

"Luigi!" FLUDD cried "One of the Armor's limbs comes from behind!"

Luigi turned around and cried in fear at the sight of one of the feet turned claw flying at him "HELP!" he shouted as the claw was too close for comfort. But before the purple claw could get close to him the plumber could swear he saw a red thing wrap itself around it before a mighty swing threw the limb away from the small man. Following the sticky red rope like appendage he found someone he was never happier to see than now.

"Yoshi!" he yelled and waved to the dinosaur in joy, but remembering his friends were still in danger he quickly pointed at them "Quick, boy! Help the kid in the orange pants!" The green pet gave a nod and ran to aid our heroes, Luigi meanwhile readied another missile to blast the armored heartless.

XXXXXX

Naruto and Brook, who were on the run from the remaining hand and the claw were waiting for Silver to make his next move. They stalled the beast for time so their friend hedgehog could finish whatever trick he had in his sleeve…err, gloves.

Sadly, Naruto was nowhere near as fast as Brook's lightning footwork and could only see his skeleton friend outrun him by what to him seemed a mile. But just as he began to run out of breath, a nudge on his back made him look to who was patting him. But as quick as he felt it he was abruptly lifted by it, forced to do a backwards jump midair and land on a red saddle, seeing his savior's green skin as well as Brook who was by his side thanks to his new friendly ride, Naruto looked at none other than Yoshi with a big smile aimed at him.

"Hey, it's you, little guy!" the boy said in barely held excitement, the dinosaur nodded, and before Naruto could say a thing the green creature gave an impressive jump along with Brook, the three avoiding a sweeping attack from the Opposite Armor's limbs.

"Well, I'll say, this new friend of ours is most welcomed" Brook said in joy as he raised his saber at the heartless.

Naruto smirked and switched his current Keyblade with the Crazy Jungle blade, his eyes back to their usual cerulean blue as he smirked "All right, little guy, CHARGE!" he shouted while pointing his sword to the Armor.

And charge they did, Brook took the right and Naruto with Yoshi the left, the skeleton going low and the shinobi aiming high, both attacked simultaneously. Brook slashed away at the remaining hand turned leg, forcing it and its master to retreat, but not fast enough. Naruto, riding the green dinosaur, ran up at him and Yoshi jumped high in the air, using its legs to deliver a heavy kick to the last remaining hand, and with Brook's previous attack it shattered. Naruto jumped off Yoshi and brought the Keyblade up.

"Chew on this!" the blond shouted as he threw his weapon at it. But unlike his previous attack, he felt something weird in his arm and the Keyblade, he looked at it and saw an orange wing forming around the blade as blue lightning surged through the blade but didn't hurt him.

Once he threw the Crazy Jungle the blade's name made it justice as it turned into an insane hurricane of a buzz saw, its radius equal to the blade that made it exist. In one swift motion the bladed typhoon of orange wind slashed through the armored left arm and cleanly cut if in half, making it break into a million pieces afterwards.

Naruto summoned the blade back, smiled and kissed it "Oh, I knew you had surprises, but not this fun!" he said, lovingly hugging it.

Everyone sweat-dropped at that, including Yoshi and the Opposite Armor. The idea of this kid being the chosen one made them feel fear, too. But quickly regaining their thoughts the battle commenced, or rather, someone decided to end it.

"Naruto, Brook, Yoshi, get out of the way!" Silver shouted as he slammed his hands on the pool. His friends did as told and were happy to do so when the water started to move in a small maelstrom before it shot up in a geyser, said geyser taking form as it moved at the heartless "Suiton: Suiryu Endan!" the mobian shouted his attack's name as the powerful dragon shaped torrent of water slammed itself against the heartless with great force, obliterating its last remaining limb, crushing it under the water's pressure.

"I NEED to learn THAT one!" Naruto shouted in glee, his eyes flashing in excitement, literally flashing. But as soon as his emotion came it was gone when the hedgehog fell face-first to the floor, exhausted "Silver!"

Naruto, Brook and Yoshi ran up to the hedgehog, the dinosaur licking his face "Ugh, don't do that! It's anti-hygienic!" he cried while pushing the worried green pet.

"Silver-san, what's the matter?" Brook asked in clear worry.

"Nothing…that attack ate a lot of my chakra reserves" the mobian panted, before smirking "But at least I got him"

*CLANK!*

"Think again…" Naruto said as he and his other friends saw the armor hovering above them, its torso carrying a purple ball of pure evil dark energy ready to blast them…but before it could even shoot a familiar whistle and an explosion rocked the heartless away from them, making it bounce from the heavy hit that got the Armor right on the kisser. The heroes looked up at the roller coaster at Luigi giving them the thumbs up.

"Got your backs covered!" he yelled with a prideful smirk "Come on, kid! Finish it once and for all!"

Naruto nodded and ran at the downed monster, gave a huge jump with his Keyblade held up and roared at the top of his lungs before stabbing it right on the face in between its lifeless dark eyes. The creature gave a screech of pain and anger before its body repeated the same actions when it was first defeated and ended up with a big heart floating up

The blond smirked, rested his weapon on his shoulder and pointed at the heart "And don't come back!"

"Indeed" Silver said as he went to a bench to catch his breath back.

Luigi instantly ran to them, and ran past them "Come on, we've got to save Peach!"

The other heroes exchanged looks for a second, before snapping back to reality and running behind their green clad friend, their tired muscles complained after the battle but they ignored them. However, when they arrived at the other side of the pool all the four members of Team Maelstrom and the dinosaur found was nothing, not even a sign of the cage.

"Damn it, we're too late!" Naruto cursed as he grabbed his head in despair '_Argh! First Satsuki, then Hinata… and now Luigi's friend, damn it!_'

Luigi was also in the same depression as the blond, falling down to his knees as he looked to where the cage had been before their battle with the armored monster with a far off look in his usually lively eyes. Silver walked to his friend and patted his back to comfort him as did Yoshi by licking the small man's cheek. Brook looked at them… before it hit him!

"That's right, let's sing!" the skeleton cried as he took out a violin out of seemingly nowhere. The now shocked heroes and the green pet gave him puzzled looks at how he could be so cheery in a situation like this… until he began to sing "Come on, you all, we need happy faces for this journey! That cute lady wouldn't want us crying for her! So let's sing with our hearts… though I don't have a heart, Yohohohoho!"

Then our heroes were greeted to the most heartwarming song they had ever heard and soon smiled as the lyrics began, with them singing too:

**Yo-hohoho, Yohohohoo,**

**Yo-hohoho, Yohohohoo,**

**Yo-hohoho, Yohohohoo,**

**Yo-hohoho, Yohohohoo,**

**Going to deliver Binks' Sake!**

**Following the sea breeze! Riding on the waves!**

**Far across the salty depths! The merry evening sun!**

**Painting circles in the sky as the Birds Sing**

**Farewell to the harbor, To my old hometown**

**Let's all sing out with a Don! As the ship sets sail**

**Waves of gold and silver dissolve to salty spray**

**As we all set sail to the ends of the sea**

**Going to deliver Binks' Sake!**

**We are pirates sailing through the Sea!**

**The waves are our pillows, The ship our roost**

**Flying the proud Skull On our flags and our sails**

**Now comes a storm through the far-off sky**

**Now the waves are dancing, Beat upon the drums**

**If you lose your nerve this breath could be your last**

**But if you just hold on, The morning sun will rise**

**Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho,**

**Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho,**

**Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho,**

**Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho,**

**Going to deliver Binks' Sake!**

**Today, and tomorrow, our dreams through the night!**

**Waving our goodbyes, we'll never meet again!**

**But don't look so down, For at night the moon will rise!**

**Going to deliver Binks' Sake!**

**Let's all sing it with a Don! A song of the waves**

**Doesn't matter who you are, Someday you'll just be bones**

**Never-Ending, Ever-wandering, Our funny Traveling tale!**

**Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho,**

**Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho,**

**Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho,**

**Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho…**

And once Brook put back his violin from wherever he took it, the crowd behind them exploded in cheers "Wonderful!" shouted the director of the park as he approached the group "To see the heroes being so strong in their spirits and listen to such a song is something that really moved the crowd!" the small sea creature said in pure joy "I don't know how to thank you, but you have my deepest gratitude for helping revive this park!"

Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly "Well… umm, you're welcome, I guess" he said with an awkward chuckle and then looked at his very tall friend and smiled "Thanks, Brook… I needed that" he said with a sincere and goofy smile.

The skeleton laughed merrily "Yohohohohoho! That's what friends are for, Naruto-san. Now let us go, a lady needs our help"

"Yeah!" Luigi cried with a fist pumped before cupping his hands to his mouth and shouting to the clouds "Wait up, Peach, I'll save you!"

Silver chuckled as he rubbed the back of his head "We sure are one weird team, but a good one, nonetheless"

"Well, that's part of the fun and…what's that?" the blond asked feeling something weird in his hand. He turned to notice something flashing over at the island. The Keyblade moved up and pointed at the center of the pool… and then it hit him "Guys! I think there's a keyhole there!" he exclaimed.

"You know what to do, kid" Luigi said.

The blond nodded as he raised his legendary weapon, soon a keyhole appeared in the middle of the pool, before the Keyblade's trademark sealing beam flew at it, keeping the heart of the island safe from the darkness. Naruto let out a sigh of relief as he turned to his team with a goofy smile.

"One down, and a lot more to go" he said with his wide smile "Let's go already, I want to see the new worlds and save our friends!" he shouted turning his goofy grin into a confident smirk.

"Yeah!/Yoshi!" his friends cried with a fist raised.

XXXXXX

An hour has passed since Peach's kidnapping. Team Maelstrom (except for Toadsworth who boarded the Toad Express) arrived at the hotel where Itachi was waiting. The blond and his friends explained everything that happened.

"I see..." the elder shinobi said baffled "So there was a keyhole here after all"

"And then that heartless kidnapped Peach" Luigi added sadly.

"He's probably took her back to his hideout as we speak, and I'm willing to bet that Orochimaru is behind this" Silver growled.

"Yes, and this time I'm afraid he has a true purpose" Itachi sighed.

"What are you talking about?" the blond boy asked nervously.

"I was doing some research when I came across something about seven beautiful maidens known as the Princesses of Heart" the weasel themed shinobi explained "It's believed they hold the key to unlocking a powerful darkness that could bring about the end of mankind"

Luigi shivered upon hearing this "Really?"

"I'm afraid so" the young man replied "That was something also mentioned in Tobi's Report. I suspect that's the reason Orochimaru is after Peach and the others"

"Then that's probably why Coco disappeared" Naruto gasped "She may be one of the seven princesses!"

"Exactly. As I feared, he must be trying to get them all to gain true power" Itachi said.

"We have to stop that madman then!" Brook cried "Or else innocent lives will be destroyed!"

"Before you go, take this" Itachi said handing Naruto a scroll.

"A scroll?" the blond asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, I believe it'll be useful in your future battles" the elder swordsman said.

Naruto read the scroll and gasped "Wind chakra techniques?"

"Oh boy!" Silver said in a pleasant surprise "This is just what I wanted for your chakra training, Naruto"

"Cool!" the blond shouted ecstatic as he gripped the scroll before pocketing it in his orange pants.

"There's no time!" Itachi reminded them "You three should get going then!"

"Actually, make that four" Brook said with a smile as he turned to the team "After all, if I help you I might find my own nakama"

"Right!" Naruto nodded "Silver, Luigi, Brook, let's do this!"

"Yeah!"

XXXXXX

The four eccentric heroes said goodbye and headed back into to island's plaza. They arrived back to the statue and met up with Toadsworth. As the mushroom approached the four, Luigi whispered to his friends "We can't let Toadsworth know about what Peach is or else he'll have a heart attack" he said as calmly as he could "The poor guy would have a heart attack if he knew the dimensions of this"

"Understood!" they nodded.

"Masters, glad to see you again" Toadsworth said happily.

"Hey man, are you alright?" Naruto asked Toadsworth concerned "You were pretty bummed out about Peach"

"Whoever this man is, I assure you that I have gotten over losing the princess" Toadsworth said not getting the boy's modern speech "Besides, I'm sure we can find her"

"Yeah, we won't give up" Luigi said with confidence "We'll search every part of the globe until we've found her! And we do have Brook to help us"

"Thank you very much, Luigi-san!" The skeleton responded "I appreciate your kind words, they touch my heart, even if I don't have a heart"

"Then let's go!" Naruto shouted as he was about to run for the plane… only for a familiar green energy to hold him back.

"Hold on, Naruto!" Silver said stopping the running boy "We should stock up on supplies before heading out… and no, no more ramen, our supplies are mostly ramen thanks to you!"

"Aww!" the blond moaned before looking hopefully at a certain robot's store "I wonder if Omega has anything good at the accessory shop?"

"Come on! I want to see!" Luigi said excitedly "I wonder if he has good ingredients for my family's famous 'Pizza Emergency Supply'"

"What's that?" asked a somewhat baffled Naruto.

"It's the best way to keep yourself full in the middle of emergencies" Luigi simply replied as they headed over to Omega's shop. The five entered the rather modest shop only to discover that their friendly robot wasn't there. The group walked around the room looking for him.

"Omega? Buddy? Ya here?" the boy called out.

"No one seems to be home" Luigi sighed. "Maybe he's charging his batteries or oiling his parts" Just then, everyone could hear snoring "Or asleep!"

"Wait a tic, robots don't sleep" Silver pointed out as he approached the side of the counter.

Everyone walked over to notice a girl peacefully laying there with several pudding pops all around her, every single one of them was completely empty. She had crimson red hair done in dual spiky pigtails, sharp pointy ears, a choker with a big silver ring on it and a certain mischievous look on her now sleeping face. However her choice of clothing was not something most people would recommend for her, mostly because she seemed to be at least a year younger than Naruto. She had a black leather training bra on, a short matching leather skirt, elbow gloves of the same material and even thigh high boots made also of leather. On her waist were a pair of pouches on her back, both designed to look like penguins… but what truly shocked our friends the most was the thing leathery tail on her hindquarters and the small red bat wings on her back.

"Well, I'll be!" Toadsworth said with some surprise "As I stand here and breath if it isn't a devil!"

The devil girl heard the elder mushroom's voice waking her up, then yawned and began to get up.

"No, Prince, I didn't eat your pudding…" she said sleepily, then looked up to notice the five individuals gathered around her "Oh, hi…" she said a bit nervously but with a mischievous smile "So… I hope you guys aren't mad I ate all of the pudding in here. I mean, I was starving! A young girl like yours truly shouldn't be denied of the ultimate deliciousness that is pudding-"

"No way!" Naruto shouted angrily, shocking everyone.

"Huh? What's gotten into you?" the girl asked as she took a more relaxed pose with a slightly annoyed look on her.

The blond pointed right at her face "If there exists an ultimate deliciousness… that's ramen! Its saltiness and perfectly combined ingredients make it the best of the best!"

"You're fighting a girl you barely know over ramen?" asked a shocked Silver.

"Get that back!" the redhead shot back with clear anger "Pudding is the ultimate meal, no matter if it's a dessert! Pudding is made to melt in your mouth and leave you with sweet goodness!"

"And you're getting angry over something so childish?" asked an even more shocked hedgehog as the rest of the team watched the two fight about what food was better.

"This may take a while" Brook told Luigi, the plumber nodded.

Hearing that, the girl grumbled "Argh! I don't have time for this! I need to find something!" and with that she stormed off.

"Man, what's that girl's problem?" Naruto asked.

"If I had to guess, I'd point you" Silver said matter-of-factly, getting the blond to suppress his anger.

XXXXXX

After the group paid in advance for the equipped items to their robotic friend and headed out they took the boat back to the airport and boarded the ship with Luigi fidgeting a bit at the idea of what he'd do if he found his brother now that Peach was gone. However he was brought out of that depressing train of thought they boarded the ship and the ringing of a telephone could be heard.

"That must be our air-phone service" Toadsworth assumed "I'll get it" the mushroom moved quickly and picked up the phone near the captain's cabin "Hello? Yes? Oh, hello professor. Yes he's here!" He then handed the phone to the blond "Master Naruto, Professor Oak is on the line. Do you wish to speak with him?"

"Sure" Naruto said putting the phone up "Hi, Professor"

"Hello boy, good to hear from you" Oak replied happily but a little glum over the phone line "You sound well"

"Thanks, but you sound a little sad" the boy responded concerned "What's wrong?"

"I have some good news and some bad news" Oak said "The good news is that we've finally managed to clean up the mess done by Team Rocket, so the first cup of the tournament is beginning"

"Alright!" the boy cheered.

"Why are you so cheery all of a sudden?" the hedgehog asked.

"The mess done by Team Rocket has been fixed so we can fully enter the games now!" the boy answered excitedly.

"Happy day!" Luigi cheered "Now we can kick some serious butt and get ourselves in some shape!" he though excitedly '_That's right, if Peach's out there then I need to be stronger, like my big bro_'

"You got it!" the boy said with a thumb up to his friend, before remembering the other part of Oak's news "What's the bad news, professor?"

"The bad news is that Ash won't be there, he's busy training his own Pokémon as he told me" Oak said in sorrow "I really wanted to see both you and his Pokémon fighting, but he's off at Cerulean City training in the place's gym against the Gym leader"

"Well, that's a pity… I wanted to fight him too" Naruto said in disappointment.

"Actually, that's good too; Ash did say he is going to take part in my competition. So maybe you'll end up facing him" Oak said "Though, due to him being one of the very best trainers out there you may face him by the finals"

"Seriously? Alright, then I'll beat them all!" Naruto shouted with a fist pumped "We'll be there real soon. Good-bye and see ya soon" he then hung up the phone and turned to Toadsworth "Tell the pilot to head to the Pokémon Stadium" He then turned his friends "I know we're on a mission but if we battle for a little while we'll become stronger than ever"

"Good point" Silver nodded "Besides, it might be good to see how you've improved with the techniques I've taught you so far"

"Then off to Pokémon Stadium!" Toadsworth announced.

XXXXXX

Using the new warp feature that Omega kindly installed for them, the Toad Express blasted through space and time and arrived at Pokémon Stadium in one second flat. Naruto looked out the window in amazement "Wow, we've got here so fast" he said in shock.

"Come on, kid" Luigi said "Let's go kick some butt!"

The group exited the Toad Express and said good-bye to Toadsworth. They made their way through town until they arrived at the entrance to the stadium that was starting to get crowded by fighting fanatics. As they walked in they got greeted by a yellow friend.

"Pikachu!"

"Hi, Pikachu!" Naruto said as he ran to the mouse and petted it "Long time no see!" the small yellow mouse jumped onto the boy's shoulder and rubbed his cheek against the blonde's whiskered one.

"I guess the feeling's mutual, Naruto-san" Brook pointed out as he approached the small mouse and also began to pet him "Oh, he's quite the adorable one, reminds me a bit of my crew's medic"

"Come here, Pikachu!" called a voice from behind the team. Pikachu complied by jumping off Naruto's shoulder and running over to Ash, now jumping on his shoulder.

"Ash!" Naruto exclaimed "I thought you were off at Cerulean City"

"Hiya ,Naruto" Ash said shaking his new friend's hand "And yeah, I was but then heard of you all battling here. I had a wild day but wouldn't lose seeing you guys fight, how about you?"

"Trust me, my day couldn't get any wilder" the blond responded "By the way, I heard you were training with a Gym leader… what's that about?"

"Oh that!" Ash replied with a chuckle… and a blush that didn't go unnoticed "Well, the Gym leader of that city is a good friend of mine, and very strong too. Gym leaders basically fight trainers, and if the trainer can beat them then they give said trainer a badge to enter fights of major leagues, but for that you must beat eight of them, and they don't make things easy"

"Sounds fun!" Naruto said "Man, if I ever meet one of those in this tournament I want to fight them head-on with all I've got!"

"Hehe… you better be careful with what you wish for" Ash said as he took out a small list "Because, there is another reason why I'm here, and that's because of who you might fi-"

But he was interrupted when Pikachu tugged at his pants "Pika!"

"Oh, I forgot, I promised I would take my Pokémon to a big banquet celebrating for a job well done!" Ash exclaimed "I've got to go, but I'll see your matches. Oh, and the professor is waiting for you guys" and with that the boy ran off. But then noted Brook and waved at him "By the way, that's a nice costume"

"But this is not a costume" the skeleton said, but the kid was already gone.

The group saw the boy with the baseball cap leaving, Silver rubbing his head in confusion "Who do you think he was talking about?"

"What do you mean?" Luigi asked.

"I mean, he said we might fight someone… but who?" the hedgehog asked with his eyes closed and arms crossed, deep in thought.

However, Naruto smirked "Who cares? We'll just kick their butts!"

The poor hedgehog face-palmed "How can he be so optimistic and energetic? He's like one of those pink battery bunnies"

XXXXXX

After some more walking, Team Maelstrom arrived at the entrance to the arena and entered in the lobby where Oak greeted them.

"Naruto, Silver, Luigi, good timing. Oh, and I see you brought a new teammate, that's good too!" Oak said "You're a bit earlier but we can start right now if you wish"

"That sounds great" the blond nodded.

"Then hurry up! The Oak cup is going to begin" Oak said.

Silver heard the name with a raised eyebrow _'Man… talk about narcissism' _he thought_._

The four nodded to the professor and entered the arena. Once in the center people exploded in cheers after seeing their first battle as the four were confronted by heartless for their first match.

"I thought this was a Heroes vs. Pokémon competition?" Luigi gulped.

"Remember, these guys don't even care about the rules" Silver pointed out.

"Well, shall we get going?" the skeleton asked as he withdrew his saber.

Naruto turned to his team with a smile "Of course! Now, CHARGE!"

XXXXXX

For the next several rounds the four heroes fought through nine hordes of enemies, fighting old heartless like Shadows, Soldiers, Large Bodies, Power Wilds and Wizards. With some exhaustion but no need to use their full power they finally made it through the nine seeds and arrived at the final seed.

"Who are we facing now?" the plumber wondered as he wiped the sweat off his forehead.

Just then the guys heard a giggle "Me, of course"

The heroes turned to see a young girl about Ash's age or maybe a bit younger smiling and waving at them from the other side of the arena. She had shot orange hair, green eyes and a cocky smirk. She was also tomboyish and was dressed more for swimming than battling with a white, blue trimmed one piece swimsuit with a light blue coat over her body and white sandals on her feet. She then reached into her coat's pocket and pulled out a familiar object: a Poke-ball.

The referee stepped closer to Team Maelstrom and motioned for Naruto to follow him to the center, the blond looked at his team, but they nodded to him to do as the man required. Once in the center with the orange haired girl the referee made them step in front of one another with him at the side in the middle as he cleared his throat.

"Ahem, since this is an official Heroes vs. Pokémon match we have different rules for when a hero and a Pokémon trainer fight" the man explained "We abide the rules of a round based fight. Fighting either one-on-one or with a full team of heroes against the trainer's Pokémon. However, once someone loses said person can't get back, and no matter the result the next fighters must take their place for the next round. Since we have four heroes we'll have to cut it to three rounds to avoid draws"

"Works for me" the girl said, extending her hand to Naruto "By the way, the name's Misty, I'm a friend of Ash's"

"Oh, nice to meet you" the boy said accepting the handshake with a smile.

Misty then gave him a cocky smile "Ash didn't stop talking about you and how much he wanted to fight you, so of course I'd head out here to see if you and your friends are stronger than my own Pokémon. So in the middle of our training and hearing him say how he'd like to fight you I thought to myself: What the heck? I'll fight this Naruto and show Ash why I'm Cerulean Gym's leader"

At that Naruto's eyes almost popped out of their sockets "Wait! You're a Gym-"

"Now, please get back to your positions before the matches start" the referee said as he nudged Naruto to move back to his corner, and suddenly our blond had second thoughts about fighting.

'_Man, Gym leaders sound very strong the way Ash described them…_' then all his doubts died '_So if I beat this girl then I surely must be strong enough to be considered a tough hero!_' however, while he really wanted to be praised as someone strong, he couldn't help but look at his friends, think of Peach and his loved ones, mostly Hinata and Satsuki '_If I can be a tough hero… if I become strong enough I'll be able to protect them… to save them… to be with my friends…_' he smiled at his friends and ran at them.

Silver noted the big grin on the blond "What's got you so excited?"

"Guys, that girls is a Gym leader, and the one that was training with Ash before this tournament" he said in sheer excitement "If we beat her then that must mean we have more than hero material!"

"Really?" Silver asked in an unusual excited expression "Alright, then that must mean we'll show that old man we're real heroes!" he shouted and slammed his fist in his palm.

"Yohohohoho! Even I can feel the excitement running through my veins… though I don't have veins, Yohohohoho!"

"Ok, count me in too!" Luigi said as he pumped his fist up.

Naruto nodded to his friends "But there is only one problem, this is a one-on-one three round fight, so we have to choose who will skip it" he said saddened at the last part.

Brook stepped forwards with a hand raised "I'd suggest the good old remedy of Janken (Rock-Paper-Scissors)" he said as he raised his hand.

"Ah, that's right, we'll leave it to our luck!" Luigi said as he also raised his hand.

"Better than nothing" Silver commented as he mimicked his friends' actions.

"Well, here goes, good luck, guys" Naruto said as he and the others brought their hands down…

XXXXXX

The referee stepped forwards with a serious look in his eyes and spoke to the crowd "The fights will be as following: Luigi Mario vs. Golduck, Silver the Hedgehog vs. Lapras and Uzumaki Naruto vs. Gyarados!"

The crowd exploded in cheers as the first hero stepped forward and Misty smiled as she took out a Poke-ball "I hope you're ready" the girl said.

"I'll show you my Pasta Power!" the plumber said jabbing at the air.

"You can do it, Luigi!" Naruto shouted.

"Did he really have to say that though?" Silver asked with a sweat-drop.

Brook laughed "Yohohohoho, it's actually a nice catchphrase!"

The referee stepped in the middle as well as Luigi while Misty held out her Poke-ball. He raised his flags and shouted "Let the first match begin!"

With that Luigi got into a lazy boxing stance while Misty threw out her Poke-ball "Golduck, I choose you!" she said as the small device opened, from which came out a blue humanoid duck with a scaly like skin, a red jewel in the middle of its forehead, a short lizard like tail on his rear and the top of his head having horns of the same color of his skin shaped like some sort of crown.

"Golduck, use Hidro Pulse!" the girl commanded and in an instant the blue duck obeyed as a large blue orb appeared in its open beak, before he shot it at the ground, where big and powerful waves of water surrounded the place as the water orb came flying at the small man at fast speeds.

"Holy ravioli!" Luigi gasped as he jumped above the attack and managed to land on the now wet ground as the blue Pokémon stared at him cautiously. Luigi decided to attack "Ok, my turn now" he said and ran at the duck with a punch.

Misty smirked "Sorry, but physical attacks won't work, now Golduck, use Psychic!" the duck obeyed its trainer's command and its eyes started to glow blue… and Luigi suddenly felt himself stopping dead in his tracks, unable to move his body. To his horror he saw that he was covered in a blue energy that felt way too similar to Silver's own psychokinetic powers… meaning he was stuck.

"Mama-mia, now here comes the pain" he said as he knew what would come, and it did when he was suddenly launched upwards and then back onto the floor, where he bounced once before laying there, sprawled and panting from the pain in his back "Ow…" he softly moaned but nonetheless rose to his feet regardless of having been used like a rag-doll.

"Golduck, hit him with Hidro Pulse now that he's weak!" Misty commanded and the duck had no mercy as another orb of water flew at the plumber, and this time the poor short man was too injured to jump like the last time. He was hit full force in his torso, flying as waves of water shot him to the other side of the arena where he once again laid badly beaten.

But that didn't stop the plumber from tying to get up… and sadly it didn't stop Misty's tactic "Golduck, keep using Psychic and Hidro Pulse like before, don't give him a break until he's down for good!"

Luigi's eyes snapped open in horror as he was repeatedly lifted and thrown to the ground before being blasted by another Hidro Pulse over and over again. Naruto and his friends watched in horror how Luigi got constantly beaten without a break, until Misty decided that enough was enough.

"Golduck, stop it!" she shouted and her Pokémon instantly stopped charging its last Hidro Pulse while Luigi laid once again beaten on the ground, now badly bruised. The girl looked guilty at the poor man and sighed "I didn't want to do this… I actually thought he was a lot stronger" she said sadly.

However her words did reach the plumber's ears, and they hurt, a lot '_So I guess this is my limit… I'm not strong as my big bro… not that it is that surprising_'

"Luigi!" he heard his blond friend shout "Don't give up!"

'_How… how can he have so much faith in me…?_' the plumber thought as his eyes fluttered while he tried to keep the open.

The referee walked closer to Luigi and began to inspect him. The plumber had taken two clean hits and was obviously out of breath, but was still conscious, even if fighting to stay awake. So like any good referee he raised his hand and brought it down "One…" he began to count "Two… Three…"

"Luigi!" Naruto shouted as he ran to the arena, and began to smash his hand on the ground near the plumber as if to try to wake him up in a boxing match "Come on, Luigi, get up!"

However Luigi just groaned '_Oh… come on, kid… I am too… weak…_' he thought sadly, but Naruto continued.

"Get on your feet, Luigi, you can do it!" the blond shouted as he slammed his hands harder "Just wake up! Don't you want to be a hero?"

"Six…Seven…"

"A… hero…?" Luigi managed to mumble.

"Yeah, a hero!" Naruto shouted "All you have to do is stand up! That's all you need to be strong!"

"Nine…T-"

"GRRRRRRAAAAAAAHHHH!" the plumber roared as he stood now in his two feet, before screaming "It hurts! My body hurts like crazy!" he shouted as he attempted to keep his balance "Naruto… if I win this… you and Silver better don't lose!" he said between his gritted teeth.

Naruto smirked as he pumped a fist "Damn right we won't!"

Luigi couldn't help but chuckled "What a crazy kid" he mumbled before turning to the referee "I can… still fight…"

The referee nodded to the small man "Good, now fight!" he said as he retreated before waving his flag, signaling him and Golduck to continue fighting.

To everyone's utter shock, neither Misty nor her Golduck could do a thing when the plumber charged right at the blue Pokémon just after the flag was swung down. Luigi cried as hr charged his fists with lightning, before bringing a solid hook to the duck's side, getting a loud yell from it as the electricity flowed through its body painfully. Golduck backpedaled as Luigi still tried to regain his breath.

"Golduck, step back!" Misty cried.. but unlike the other times, her Pokémon didn't obey her, because he couldn't. There were small lightning bolts zapping over the duck's blue skin, and Misty grew very worried "Oh crap, he's paralyzed!"

"Luigi!" the plumber heard now his gray mobian friend shout to him with a book in his hands "That Golduck is a water type Pokémon, those are weak against electric attacks!" he said while flipping through pages "If you can land more direct hits that duck will fall down!"

Suddenly, Misty's still paralyzed Golduck fell a chill running down its spine, it turned to the source of the icy sensation he felt, and when its eyes landed on a plumber with an evil smirk the poor duck knew he was in a world of pain "Is that so?" Luigi asked in an eerily mirthful tone "Well, duckie… it's payback time!"

(One painful beating later)

Golduck was now laying on the ground, painfully twitching as several lightning bolts ran around its blue body as Luigi panted before letting himself fall on his behind to catch his lost breath, beating a duck out of anger can take a lot of energy out of a person.

The referee walked to the poor duck and raised his flag towards Luigi "Golduck can't continue, the winner of the first round is Luigi!"

The crowd exploded in cheers and congratulated the small hero as loud as they could. Misty called back her Pokémon and smiled at the device it was in "You did good, Golduck, thanks for fighting" she said before smiling at the plumber "You're quite stronger than you let on, if you get serious you can be even stronger than what you think you are"

"T-Thanks…" Luigi managed to gasp with a fist pumped up in victory, before letting himself fall backwards in exhaustion, his fist still up. However he didn't lay on the ground for too long as his friends carried him in their arms and threw him high in the air before catching him and then throwing him back up, the joy obvious in the rest of Team Maelstrom.

"You did it, Luigi!" Naruto cheered once they finally out the plumber down "I didn't doubt you for a second!"

"Well, that's good, because I was about to piss myself" the plumber admitted in tired pants as he walked to the bench "Now… if you excuse me… I think I'll take a well deserved rest and maybe some good old fashioned pasta once we get back to the plane"

"You deserve it" Silver said with a chuckle before turning to the arena "Well… now's my turn"

"You can do it, Silver!" Naruto said as he patted his friend's shoulder.

"Good luck, Silver-san!" Brook cheered as the hedgehog stood now in the center of the ring, feeling a bit nervous after seeing the kind of strength Misty's Pokémon had, but still stood up.

"Round two, Silver the Hedgehog vs. Lapras" the referee called out as he raised his flags, and then instantly brought them down "Begin!"

"This time I'll get serious" Misty said as she threw the Poke-ball "Go Lapras!" this time releasing a mixture of dinosaur and turtle about as tall as Brook and even bigger than alarge body, it was an elegant sort of long-necked dinosaur with a beautiful cerulean skin and a white part on its belly that reached its lower jaw connected through its neck by the front, on its back was some sort of gray stone saddle like Yoshi's, but this one had small spikes, however it seemed still big enough for someone to ride. Instead of legs it had big strong fins and atop its head was a small horn the same color of its skin in the middle of its head as well as two curled small extremities at the side of his head.

Silver turned dead serious "Well, I will be serious too" he said as he clasped his hands, green psychic energy flowing in them before he lifted them in front of his body, the palms open in a defensive manner as he narrowed his eyes in an even more serious appearance "Since Luigi gave his all in the previous fight then so will I"

"Lapras, go ahead with Ice Beam!" Misty ordered and her Pokémon obeyed, charging a white-blue beam in its open mouth before releasing it towards the hedgehog. Silver instantly hovered above the attack and did so in the perfect timing as the ground below his feet actually froze. He stayed above the frozen floor and carefully eyed Lapras for any other attack.

"Lapras, use Surf!" the redhead commanded and now Lapras summoned an enormous wave which it rode at the top as if it were really surfing, charging directly at the still airborne mobian. But just as he was about to evade the attack "Now Lapras, use Ice Beam on Surf!" Silver was shocked when a wall of incredibly hard ice took the place of the wave he wanted to avoid, now forming a wall to block his escape route. And it didn't end there "Ok, Body Slam!" Misty shouted.

Silver knew he didn't like the sound of that attack, and less when he saw the big Pokémon about to smash Silver with its much bigger body. Thinking quickly Silver lifted his hands and captured the aquatic being seven times his size above his head with his telekinetic powers, doing a big effort too since the Pokémon was also very heavy. The mobian soon began to look for a way out… only to find none, the Ice beam had forced him to a corner, the surf hard blocked any frontal escape when Lapras froze it, and now having said Pokémon above his head…

"This guy… needs a diet!" Silver grunted… before Lapras fell on him, painfully.

The referee ran to check out if Silver was all right… or still alive. However the poor mobian was beneath Lapras' big body, meaning there was no sight of the smaller creature. Since there were no signs of life from the hedgehog the referee raised his flag to call on Misty's victory… when everyone heard cracking.

The crowd, Misty, Team Maelstrom and the referee observed Lapras' body… before a powerful shock rocked the aquatic creature's body with enough potency to make its skeleton visible like an X-ray before the water type Pokémon flew off to the other side of the arena, knocked out.

Where Lapras once was now laid a badly beaten and also shocked Silver with a bit of smoke coming from his fur and a bit charred by the attack. He coughed, a cloud of dark smoke coming out of his mouth, before he fainted too.

The referee checked on both the Pokémon and the mobian, before crossing both flags in front of him "Both contestants can't go on, this match is a draw!"

(A few moments later, with Team Maelstrom)

"Ouch…" Silver said as the nurse, whose name was Joy, and the pink egg shaped Pokémon that accompanied her were now treating his injuries, putting a lotion to heal his burnings and putting some bandages.

"Don't worry, your fur absorbed most of the damage so you don't have any internal damage" she said after putting the last bandage on him and then game him a potion "Your injuries should be gone after a day's rest, this potion will heal you faster, please drink it before sleeping so you can get some deserved rest" she said before bowing to them and walking off "I wish you good luck with your matches, be careful"

"Thanks" Silver waved with his head hung low, before he grabbed it "Aw man… I shouldn't of done something that stupid!" he scolded himself "I mean, yeah, I was trapped beneath a ton of aquatic dinosaur, but I could of own with something else…"

"Well, you still beat that Lapras" Naruto said, and when Silver turned to the blond he saw a large smile on the boy's face "You did your best and actually gave us a chance to win, all I need to do is win our next match"

"But that means you'll have to win or else we'll be out of this tournament" Silver reminded the blond.

However Naruto's infamous goofy grin made itself present "Then I'll just have to win no matter what!"

Silver face-palmed "So much confidence…" he mumbled, before smiling "If I keep on hearing that I might even believe it"

Naruto smiled "That's all you gotta do, believe in me, because I will win this, dattebayo! (Yeah, will use the japanese version, but not overuse it to avoid it from being annoying)"

"Naruto…" Silver said, making Naruto stop as he was about to step into the arena, he gave the kid a small smile "You'd do me a favor if you showed me what you learned thus far from me"

Naruto gave the hedgehog the Peace sign and entered the arena, once in the center the referee nodded and raised his flags "Final round, Uzumaki Naruto vs. Gyarados…" he said as he looked at both him and Misty "If Team Maelstrom wins this round then they win this tournament, however if Misty does win we'll have to go to the Penalty Round and decide in a final battle who wins" both the redhead and the blond nodded, the referee said no more and raised his flags.

"Begin!"

"Sorry, but I'm not planning on losing" Misty said with a smile but without arrogance, like a true sportswoman.

Naruto returned her smile with a smirk as he summoned his Nocturne Eye, the Byakugan flashing in his eyes "Same here, I haven't come this far just to lose!"

"Gyarados, I choose you!" Misty shouted as she summoned her final Pokémon… and when he saw it, Naruto's mouth dropped as the creature revealed itself to be a dragon like snake about two times Lapras' size. Like a fish, he had a fin tail at the end. His body was a sparkly blue color and it had a terrifying fish like face.

"Go Gyarados, use Hyper Beam!" Misty ordered and Naruto saw to his horror a familiar orange beam flying at him, being as fast as he was the blond quickly jumped away from the attack and, with a large dose of chakra on his feet, ran at the enormous aquatic snake with the Keyblade up.

Seeing with the Byakugan that its weak point was in its mouth the boy gave a large jump and raised his blade to give it a powerful slash… or at least he tried to, because Misty was fast on her commands "Gyarados, use Hidro Pulse!" and with a large water orb Naruto was blasted back and hit the ground, bouncing even twice before skidding to a stop.

He struggled to his feet and used the Nocturne Eye for support "Ok… charging big snake head on… bad idea" he mumbled as he saw the big dragon charging at him with its jaws wide open.

"Gyarados, use Bite!" Naruto didn't like the sound of that attack and gave a chakra enhanced jump above the dragon when its jaws clamped on the ground… taking a huge bite from it with a lot of ease, not even showing any effort or at least being in minimal pain "Use Bite again!" Misty shouted and the large Pokémon did as told, following the blond with the intent to crush him under its powerful jaws, Naruto was wise to run and jump away from the attacks.

However, Gyarados was far bigger, and soon Naruto got bitten "Argh!" the blond grunted as the snake's fangs dug into his skin before its jaw put some pressure in his body, and then threw him aside like a rag doll, making the blond skid to an unceremonious stop in one of the corners. Fortunately for him it seemed Misty had taught her Pokémon well because he wasn't in mortal danger, but that didn't mean the bite didn't hurt.

However, Misty decided a change of tactics "Gyarados, use Surf!" Now our dear blond saw the large Pokémon riding a three story high wave charging right at him, Misty smirked as she saw Naruto trapped in a corner '_Gotcha! There's only one way out, through Gyarados' Surf, and not even you would be stupid enough to take… it…?_' he thoughts turned in confusion and then shock when she saw what she thought impossible:

"That's it!" Naruto shouted as he changed the Nocturne Eye with the Crazy Jungle and actually charged at Gyarados! He gave a huge jump and threw the blade like a boomerang at the snake's mouth… however it was a completely useless move, because Misty saw how to stop it.

"Gyarados, bite that key and then use Surf full force on Naruto!" And like she ordered the blade was easily caught in the snake's mouth before the blond was hit directly by the waves, being violently thrown from one side to another before the water was finally gone, leaving Naruto half-drowned beneath Gyarados.

The referee soon ran to the blond and raised his flag towards Misty "Uzumaki Naruto is unable to continue, the winner i-"

"HEY!" a voice interrupted him "I'm not done yet!"

And, to everyone's shock, the 'Keyblade' which was still in the snake's mouth disappeared in a cloud of smoke, showing none other than Naruto with one foot in Gyarados' lower jaw and one hand keeping the upper jaw from closing, the other free hand having the Jungle Blade swirling wildly in the form of the very same orange typhoon he used to beat the Opposite Armor… and Gyarados had nowhere to go.

"This if for biting me!" Naruto shouted as he slammed the weapon right into the Pokémon's mouth, however, since Gyarados was no heartless, the blond didn't use its full force to avoid killing the creature, but the attack nonetheless knocked Gyarados back, painfully as it screamed in pain, violently shaking its head from one side to the other. But Naruto was not done.

Naruto jumped over the Pokémon's prone body while in the air as his hands flew through handsigns, making Silver gasp "That's a Fuuton technique!" the hedgehog shouted in amazement as Naruto finished.

The blond summoned a lot of chakra to his right fist and drawing it back before thrusting it out with a loud shout: "Fuuton: Senpuken (Wind Release: Whirlwind Fist)!"

Gyarados got hit full force by a large pressure of wind that came from the boy's fist, the wind that came from Naruto's hands was strong enough to not only blow back the dragon like creature but even locking it in place and forming a shallow crater. As the force subsided the enormous dragon Pokémon's body rocked itself back and forth… before it fell down, unconscious.

The referee soon raised his flag to Naruto "And the winner of the final round and now champions of the Oak Cup is Team Maelstrom!"

Hearing that made Naruto smile, before he fell to his knees. Fearing for his well being his team ran to help him… but only found him smiling more before he launched his fists skyward.

"YEEEEAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" the blond screamed loud enough to be heard in the middle of the explosion of cheers from the crowd. He then turned his head to his friends and his goofy smile got even bigger then usual "We did it, we're the champs!"

Misty summoned her Gyarados back and gave it a small smile "Thanks for your effort, you did great" she said before turning to the blond that was getting back to his feet thanks to his friends, she smiled at him and extended her hand to him "Good job! That was one of the best fights I've ever had, if I could I'd like to fight you guys again"

Naruto gave her his infamous goofy grin "Anytime, that was pretty fun"

"Even if it was painful" Luigi commented with a smile.

"Or left us with third degree burns" Silver added.

"But I'd like to have a go the next time we face a Pokémon trainer" Brook said with a smile.

"I'll keep you guys to that promise" she said with a smile, before it turned into a small frown "But now I won't be able to fight Ash" she then turned to them and gave them a smile again "But sine you guys managed to beat me I'd like to see you fight as well as you did now against Ash"

Naruto smirked "Hey, who the hell do you think we are? We won't fight as well as we did now, we'll fight even BETTER!" he shouted despite being tired.

Silver sighed tiredly "I swear, Naruto, you're just a walking powerhouse" he said with a smile "I mean, you used a Futon technique like that despite the fact we've been training for some days"

Naruto smiled "Of course I did, I've been training even while you and Luigi were sleeping"

Now Silver's eyes widened in shock "then how can you be so full of energy?" he asked shocked more by this fact than Naruto was such a fast learner.

Naruto smirked "It's all because of the ramen…"

Silver groaned "Urgh… I just know I'll keep on seeing noodles for the rest of the journey"

XXXXXX

(A few minutes later – Pokémon Center Lobby)

"Good job, boys! You are well on your way to winning" Oak said to the four heroes "But we have to prepare for the next round, so I'll call you when it's ready. And here's your prize for winning!" he said and handed Naruto a metal plate with his and his friends' names on it with the words 'Oak Cup Champions'.

"Cool! Thanks a lot, professor!" Naruto shouted in glee as he held the plate dearly.

"Take care, boys, and I'll give you a call should another tournament come next"

Our heroes said good-bye to the professor and headed out. As they headed back to the ship, they saw none other than Neji leaning on a building.

"Good job out there" the Hyuuga smiled "You fought well"

"Thanks, Neji" the blond replied "I can't believe you're still here!"

"I told you I'm looking for someone" Neji said "And I won't rest until I've found him"

"So you're going to enter the games now?" Brook asked.

"I heard he's here" the young man said softly "If I get to the Platinum Cup then I can beat him. So I guess this means there will be a rematch between us"

"I can't wait!" Naruto replied excited and then remembered something "By the way, do you know someone named Tenten?"

Neji actually did something unlike him, he widened his eyes and gasped "You know her? Where is she?" he asked as he began to shake Naruto by his shoulders, rather violently.

"Easy, please! I'm getting dizzy!" Naruto said before Neji finally let go of him, the blond shook his head ot get it back together and then spoke up again "Actually, she's in Delfino Island with some good friends of us, and they told you to be careful"

Neji stood silent for a moment before bowing in appreciation "Okay, I will. And if you see her then please just tell her I'm fine and that I'll see her soon" He then looked up at the blond "Naruto. We will meet again and next time I promise to give you a fair fight"

"You're on!" the boy said shaking Neji's hand "And no mid tricks involved!"

"Okay, and no mind tricks" Neji agreed.

The heroes' group headed off and boarded the Toad Express. As the ship left the Hyuuga couldn't help but smile "I just know… that kid is going to be a box of surprises"

**XXXXXX**

**That's a rap for now! Next chapter will have the next world, which will be the complete adventure in said place in the next chapter, so it'll be a bit long. Chapters will be long, but at least that way we get all the fun!**

**Swordslinger out!**


	11. Chapter 11

WILL BE RE-WRITTEN!

Sorry, Tiger Lover 16, but do not worry, I will make it better

You see, guys, I wanted to make a more heroic fic here and... well, I find it kind of cliché so far so I'll try hard to make it better, still the plot will besimilar but different too, will have the same "guests" worlds and extra members of the team. The difference will be on the setting, how the story will go and... well, you guys will have to wait and see.

So far I'm trying to write it good as I think KH should be even with the different characters. Another thing is I'll try to make it good so... yeah, do be patient, and once again sorry TG. But hey, I'll make this fic a better one, promise.


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